


Bill Cipher: The All Seeing Eye

by Shockwave404



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Avatars, Bill Cipher Origin, Bill Cipher Story, Bill Cipher backstory, Bill Cipher's family, Bill Cipher's home, Blood, Conflict, Corruption, Dark Powers, Death, Demons, Drama, Family Relationship - Freeform, Fantasy, Fantasy World, Father Figure, Form Changing, Genocide, Gravity Falls - Freeform, Gravity Falls Prequel, Human Bill Cipher, Major character death - Freeform, Mass Destruction, Multiverse, Mystery, Nightmare Realm, Original Character(s), Sibling Relationship, Telepathy, Violence, War, other dimensions, prisons, villain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-07
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:47:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 50,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21707716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shockwave404/pseuds/Shockwave404
Summary: Bill Cipher has left a great impact on the world of Gravity Falls. But where did it all begin?Journey back to Bill Cipher's beginning, a trillion years (his words not mine) before the start of the series, to witness Bill's home planet, family, friends and enemies, and ultimatly how it all comes crumbling down, giving way to the Demon we all know today.Bill's world is far from perfect. It rots alive in corrupt vindictive society ruled by the Council, and a world that Bill seeks to change, against the will of his father. As the possibility arises that Bill is the All Seeing Eye, the prophesied saviour, he is sought out by Tenebris, the leader of a secret resistance who seeks to free the world from tyranny. Bill must face family, corruption and death to save his home, but his idea of salvation may not be what the word truly means...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 26





	1. Demons

_Sixty degrees that come in threes,_   
_Watches from within birch trees_   
_Saw his own dimension burn,_   
_Misses home but can't return._   
_Says he happy, he's a liar._   
_Blame the arson for the fire._   
_If he wants to shirk the blame,_   
_He'll have to invoke my name._   
_One way to absolve his crime,_   
_A different form, and different time._

I _have seen how all this ends. The Demon never really made amends. But he begged for life in his last breath, but Cipher never ends with death. But what I am here to tell, was how Bill Cipher began his path to hell. I have translated the tale for you to hear, so their will be no demonic words to fear. But be warned, this story is only for the bold, buts that why you're here and this is wearing old, so I shall begin where it all began, and it all started with just one man._

**THE WORLD OF EADEM**

"Speak its name again" a shaman said, gathering his sacred items as the two suns set steadily behind the towering mass of the temple. The orange hazy glow from both of them illuminated the face of the weary shaman who had emerged from the tunnel that led deep within the temple. The first shaman noticed that he hadn't received a reply.  
"Vregas?" The shaman called out to his partner. "Are you listening brother?"

"What?" Vregas' eyes left the scroll of faded parchment clutched in his old hands. "Did you say something Mar?" 

"Speak its name again" the shaman, Mar repeated.

"Ah, yes!" Vregas caught on, and smiled. "The legend gives it a name. A cryptic one at that".

"Spit it out then".  
Vregas nodded, almost excited. "The all seeing eye" he declared triumphantly.

"That's it?" Mar said, disappointed. "Years of searching this world, for that?"

"It could provide clarity" Vregas offered.

"No it can't" Mar spat. "This tells us nothing! An all seeing eye? This myth must be wrong".

"This planet is unique for a world residing in the second dimension" Vregas mused, ignoring Mar's venomous tone.

"The legend belongs here. There is a connection".

The world known only as Eadem really was quite unique. The sprawling fields of pristine green matched only by beautifully clear coastlines, all falling short of the sprawling magnificence of the worlds grand capital city. If you looked beyond the city, you would see towns dotted across the land, separated by hills, and ravines, and many other geographical wonders. Once, a long time ago, Eadem was dull, and grey. But now, it had changed for the better. Those flat horrors mentioned in history books were no more. Eadem was better now. At least, that's what everyone said. The two shamans were not from Eadem, they had come decades ago from another world, to seek out a prophecy foretold throughout the second dimension. Since there arrival forty years ago, Vregas and Mar could say they were impressed with Eadem.   
The world was led by the Corrumpere Council, and was the home of three races of being, none of which either of the shamans had ever encountered on their galactic inter dimensional journey.  
First, the Soul Demons, who were mainly the higher class folk of the world. Second the Consciousness Demons, and finally, the Dream Demons. All coexisted seemingly peacefully on Eadem. 

Both Vregas and Mar had been greeted with honour and acceptance from the Corrumpere Council, who had informed them that they had overseen the conversion of Eadem from a lost, broken world to one that would soon be dealing with some of the great star faring races of outer space, something the Council was extremely proud of. But the twin shamans were not here for the Council. In fact, they were unaware the Council even existed. They had followed a prophecy, a legend, across the stars, which had at last led them to Eadem. It had to end here. There was nowhere else left to look. But forty years had passed since their arrival, and despite the scrutinised studies, Vregas and Mar had found nothing. 

"This is hopeless" Mar said, siting down. "There is nothing here Vregas. I could have told you that a decade ago. Why in the light do you insist on staying?".

"There's something here. I know it" Vregas insisted, yet again. They had had the same argument many times over the long gruelling years. "There has to be".

"You keep saying that" Mar said coldly. "It's got us nowhere".

"We must wait. Wait for a sign. Anything" Vregas said.

"Well with you being as stubborn as you are, I don't have a choice, do I?" Mar said."But soon, you will see. This has all been a total waste of time".

**EADEM CAPITAL HOSPITAL.**

  
"Congratulations. It's a boy!" The Doctor held up the newborn to the light. The child's mother, although looking strained, was happy, and smiling. Her husband stood by her side, he too was smiling. Both, as well as Doctor Ian, had their avatar forms equipped. The child, being a newborn, had yet to receive his avatar. That would come, in time.  
Avatars were one of the many inventions dreamed up by the Council, and gave the beings of Eadem their identities. Normally, the three types of demons would look alien, and strange. They would be bright colours, with few visible features, and would be bizarre shapes. In order to interact with those from other worlds, the Council dreamed up the Avatar Program, so all could look exactly how they wanted. Now, few ever even reverted back to their true forms.

"Here" Doctor Ian passed the child into his mothers waiting arms. The child has already fell silent, and was sleeping. He was yellow, shockingly yellow in fact, so bright he almost shone, and was the shape of a triangle. But most surprisingly about the newborn Dream Demon, was that he has only a single eye, right in the centre of his form.

"He's beautiful" his mother said, cradling her baby. 

"I must apologise miss" Ian said. "We were unaware of the deformity".

"What deformity Doctor?" The father asked. "I see no problem with my son".

"I am glad you are satisfied Wade" Ian said. "I was merely referring to, that". The Doctor gestured to the single eye.

"It's fine" Wade snapped. "He's my son. I will accept him".

"That's not the issue sir" Doctor Ian said. "The issue is that maybe others won't".

"I will deal with it" Wade hissed. "He is perfect no matter how he looks, deformity or not".

"Very well sir" Ian said. He held up a notepad. "You have a name for the child?"

"I do" Claire said with a smile, and Wade smiled too. They had already decided, long before his birth. 

"Bill" Claire said. "Bill Cipher".

Doctor Ian allowed Claire and Wade to spend the night in the ward, by their new sons side. They had already named him, which was a start. Bill Cipher. But the name didn't matter, the data he had received from the medical team did. And Ian had found something very very interesting...

"The child's eye is what?" The voice crackled over the wrist communicator. 

"Its yellow, my lord" Ian said nervously. Talking to any member of the Corrumpere Council was always nerve racking, let alone its leader. Grand Leader Circulus had led the Council since its formation. 

"Yellow, you say?" Circulus mused, his voice calm, but sharp.

"Um, yes sir" Ian said.

"And only a single eye?" Circulus said.

"Yes sir. One eye" Ian responded.

"I have heard of this before. But only once" Circulus said. "Keep the child and his parents there, Doctor. I am on my way".

"You? You're on your way sir?" Ian said, trying to hide a surge of panic.

"Indeed I am. If this child is what you say, we may have an interesting situation on our hands" Circulus said. "One last thing Doctor?"

"Anything sir" Ian said.

"Who are the parents?" Circulus asked, curious.

"The parents?" Ian hastily observed his notes. "Claire and Wade Cipher sir".

"Wade Cipher? Most interesting" Circulus mused. "I'm on my way now Doctor". The communicator went silent. Ian breathed an audible sigh of relief. Now that, was scary.

Less than an hour later, the bright lights that illuminated the road signalled the arrival of Grand Leader Circulus. Doctor Ian, despite his already panicked state, made every attempt to clean up the halls that the Council head was sure to pass through to visit the Cipher family. Thankfully, Circulus came alone, obviously trying to be subtle. A single car, and dressed in casual wear. His avatar, as usual, still looked pristine. Pale skin, and eyes like ice, with thin lips, and short trimmed hair. 

"Doctor Ian" Circulus said.

"Grand Leader" Ian bowed stiffly.

"Where is Wade?" Circulus asked. "You can grovel later, Doctor. We don't have all day".

"Of course sir. Right this way". Ian led Circulus down the now cleaned hallways. Just because the Grand Leader was here alone, didn't make it any less terrifying to be in the presence of one so powerful. Eventually, Ian reached the door at the far end of one of the halls, and pushed it open for Circulus to enter. Wade and Claire looked up with mild surprise, and Wade blinked upon seeing Circulus, and Ian now cowering behind him.

"Wade Cipher" Circulus addressed the Dream Demon. "It's been a while, has it not?". 

"It certainly has" Wade agreed. Circulus smiled and looked past him, seeing two bundles resting in Claire Cipher's arms.

"You didn't tell me there was a second child, Doctor" Circulus noted. The other Dream Demon was the same shape as Bill, but has two normal eyes, and was a bright blue.

"I didn't think it was of any importance sir" Ian defended himself cautiously. "The deformity i spoke of is contained to Bill Cipher alone".

"Most curious" Circulus said, walking over to Claire.

"May I see him?"

"Of course sir" Claire said, but her voice held some reluctance. She tucked down the blanket covering the child, and showed him to Circulus. Circulus took quick note of the single, yellow eye glowing back at him. Then he turned away. 

"I see no issue here, Doctor. The child is fine".

"But the eye?" Ian suggested. "Surely that's not normal".

"You have a degree, Doctor" Circulus said coldly. "You should be able to tell me if it's normal or not, not the other way around".

"I'm sorry sir" Ian said, bowing desperately. "I won't bother you again".

"I should hope not" Circulus said. He turned back to the Cipher's.

"You have a wonderful start of a family, Mrs. Cipher, and I wish you and Wade, and your children, all the best life can give".   
With a final cold glare at the Doctor, Circulus left the room. From what Wade to gather from Ian's erratic breathing, the poor Demon was hyperventilating.   
A wonderful start to a family, Wade thought. He hoped that it would remain so.

But oh, he was wrong. Wade had little experience in dealing with children, so raising his own, not just one, but two of them, certainly proved more complicated than he had anticipated. Both Bill Cipher and his older by thirteen seconds brother Will Cipher both had grown up healthy and strong so far, but as much as he loved them, Wade couldn't believe how irritating children could be. Only a day ago, they had been visited by two shamans, who wanted to meet Bill. Claire had to chase them out with a broom to get them to leave. At age four, Bill and Will finally started making friends. The Dream Demon community they lived in was close, so most people all knew each other. From this, Bill and Will had assembled a kind group of friends, including Bills best friend, Tammy, and two other close friends, Orvou and Matrick. At age six, Bill started to see less of his father. Wade was working far more, trying to make ends meet. At age seven, Bill and Will sat in Bills room, pencils and pens in hand, drawing all over a large sheet of paper.

"This is so cool" Will said, adding more colours to the drawing.

"You bet it is" Bill said with a laugh. "What should we call it?". The past hour, the Brothers had been drawing a idea they had come up with while playing outside. All their hopes and excitement, boiled into one picture. Will finished colouring in the floating pyramid castle, which the Brothers had already decided would be the best place to live in the whole universe.

"I've got it" Will said. "Funland!" The Brothers laughed together.

"I think it needs more fun" Bill said. "Bubbles!" He laughed again, drawing in the bubbles, which floated round the pyramid.

"It's perfect bro" Will said. "The best place in the universe!"

But at age thirteen, the biggest day of Bill and Will Cipher's lives was fast approaching. Tomorrow, the Brothers would officially turn thirteen. And by the laws of Eadem, that was Choosing Day. The day that the people of Eadem chose their Avatar form, designed it to their wildest imaginations, and greatest dreams. And Wade couldn't be prouder that his sons would soon be respected members of Eadem society. 

"It's a big day. Just remember that" Wade told them, for what was probably the tenth time that week. "What you choose to be will determine your future".

"You've said that dad" Will reminded him. "Said it again and again".

"Yes, yes I know" Wade said hastily. "But I cannot understate its importance".

"Can we have anything?" Bill asked. Already, a variety of ideas had beamed through his mind.

"I don't know. It's always changing" Wade said. "But whatever you choose will be perfect for you, one way or another".

"I want a hat" Bill said with a laugh. "Like the one that guy on the wallscreen had".

"You'd look great in it" Will joked. He put on a classy voice. "Like a real gentlemen". The Brothers laughed, and Wade couldn't help but laugh to. 

"What about Tammy, dad?" Bill asked.

"What about her?"

"She had the same birthday as us. Shouldn't she be getting an avatar too?".   
Wade sighed. He knew, and feared that this conversation would come up eventually. 

"Tammy won't get an avatar son".

"What? Why not?" Bill asked. "You said that all people of Eadem are required to get an avatar at the age of thirteen".

"There are restrictions Bill. We are very lucky to have avatars ourselves. Most of us don't get them".

"Most of who?" Bill asked.

"That's enough Wade" Claire poked her avatar head into the room. "It's doesn't matter dear. You're getting your avatar right? That's the important thing". Wade nodded in agreement.

"Get a good nights rest you too. Tomorrow, Eadem welcomes you".

The next day, Wade took Will and Bill on the agonisingly long road trip to the Capital City. It was how Choosing Day worked. The Chooser must go to the city, and meet a member of the Council, who would then instruct them on Avatar selection. The whole way, Bill and Will talked excitedly about what Avatar they would pick. But Bill couldn't help but wonder, why was Tammy not getting an Avatar when he was? It certainly didn't seem fair.  
After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived in the city. Wade seemed to know where they were going. Bill would have been impressed, but then again, the Council Palace was hard to miss. It towered high into the sky, surrounded by high walls, marked with symbols. Bill noticed some graffiti sprinkled here and there.  
'Fear the Death Stealer' and 'Beware Time Baby' seemed to be almost reoccurring. Bill had no idea what a Death Stealer or a Time Baby were, so it didn't bother him. Will however, looked terrified. 

"What's a Death Stealer?" He muttered to himself. "What is it?". Bill took the opportunity to scare his brother.

"It's an omen of death" he said darkly. "When you say it's name, your destined to die! Muhahaha!".Will gulped.

"Yeah right" he said, but he didn't sound sure. Bill grinned to himself. His brother was always cautious. Caution seemed to link with fear, and Bill loved scaring his brother, even just for a joke.

"We're here boys!" Wade declared suddenly, and Will jumped. 

"Don't scare me like that!" He hissed. "At little warning would be nice, please".  
Wade sighed, and got out the car, speaking to two armed guards. Both guards bore the same symbol, a cross with a fist in the centre. After a short bit of bickering, the guards parted, and the gates swung open. Wade climbed back into the car, and drove it, the gates slamming harshly behind them. It was time to meet the Council.


	2. The Choosing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill and Will arrive in the presence of the Council for their Choosing Day. Their futures are decided today.

Not even a second after they had successfully parked, and more armed symbol baring guards had arrived, staring silently and ominously at Wade, Will and Bill.

"Morning" Wade said, his voice cheery, even though he himself was not. "Were here for the choosing, if you don't mind".

"You registered?" One guard asked gruffly.

"Wade Cipher, Code Seven-Nine-Eight-Four-Two" Wade said. The Guard typed in the code to his wrist communicator.

"All seems in order. Welcome to the Council Palace, Wade Cipher". The Guard said, his voice rough like sandpaper. "Please follow us, and we'll take you to your audience with the Council".

Big. That was the first word that entered Bill Cipher's mind when they arrived at the Council room. The room alone was at least three times the size of his house, and was filled with an assortment of radars, computers, communication devices, wallscreens, and a host of other technological marvels. Bill was blown away by simply how much stuff was here. Finally, his attention was drawn to the five seats. Well, seat was an understatement. They looked more like thrones, adorned with gold and rubies, emanating wealth and power. The figures that sat upon them looked stern, but welcoming. All five seats were taken. The entire Council was present.

"My Lords, I bring you Wade Cipher, and his sons" the guard said with a bow. "They are here for their Choosing Day".

"Thank you Orbar. Dismissed" Circulus spoke, waving the Guard away. "First off, happy birthday to you both. It's great to see you again".

"Again?" Bill asked

"Be polite" Will hissed, shocked at his brothers blunt question.

"It's quite alright" Circulus said. "Yes. I met you both when you were born. But that's not important. Let us focus on the future, rather than gazing at the past". He stood up from the throne. "Allow me to introduce the rest of the Council". He pointed to the being directly to his left, who was short with barely any hair. "This is Oblong" he said. "And he" he pointed to his right, to a lean figure, with glasses. "Is Radius". Circulus continued. "As for the others-" he looked over at the two females. "Meet Rounder and Amoreon". Both were tall, and Rounder had long wavy hair. Rounder didn't smile, but Amoreon did, and waved as well.

"Welcome!" She declared. "And a happy birthday!". Rounder looked at Amoreon distastefully.

"Don't mind her" Circulus said. "She excited no doubt. It's been a while since it was her turn to take people for Choosing Day".

"Well then" Amoreon said, standing up, not even trying to hide the excitement in her voice. "Let's get Choosing, shall we?" She led Bill and Will to a entrance leading out of the Council chamber, and Wade followed. Circulus watched them go, and the door shut.

"So" Radius mused. "That's the Cipher kid you told us about?"

"Yes" Circulus said.

"He doesn't look like much" Oblong said. "Nothing we need to concern ourselves with anyway. He's just a Dream Demon".

"Don't be so dismissive Oblong" Circulus said calmly. "That might well be the thing that matters most".

"As you know, Choosing Day is very important for all people of Eadem" Amoreon explained. "On this day, you become official citizens of Eadem".

"We've been told" Bill said, his words coming out a little ruder than he had wanted. "Ah. Sorry" he corrected himself when Wade shot him a glance. Amoreon just laughed.

"It's fine" she said. "anyway, we are here. Welcome to the Core Crystal". Bill stared in awe. He didn't quite know what he was expecting, but it certain wasn't this. The Core Crystal was massive, and glowed a bright blue, shining iridescent light around the room. The Crystal itself was hollow, with doorways made of steel leading in.

"This is so cool" Will said, also in complete awe.

"The Core Crystal is powered by a force we have yet to fully understand" Amoreon said. "The Eadem Science Division has looked into it for decades, but to no avail. What we do know, however, is that we cannot power the Choosing Machines without it".

"That's weird" Bill commented.

"Too right it is" Amoreon agreed. "But its works either way. Are you both ready for your Choosing?".

"Yes!" Bill and Will said in excited unison. Amoreon smiled.

"Then enter my friends. Take a doorway each". Bill and Will looked at each other in anticipation, and both walked up to a doorway each, opening it, and going inside.

"Good luck!" Wade called. "Don't pick anything stupid!". Amoreon laughed.

"They are good kids Wade".

"Yeah I know". He looked at her curiously. "Are you new or something? I don't think I've seen you before".

"Well, it's been seven years since I was inducted to the Council" Amoreon said. "My predecessor, Blen, was killed in a Resistance attack. I was an advisor to him, so I was brought in to replace him. This is the first time I have led a Choosing".

"Resistance? They are still around?"

"Unfortunately, yes" Amoreon said. "Circulus was convinced he had seen the last of them, but they are persistent. It's a pity really. They have incredible ideas, but only voice them though violence". She looked at Wade. "You sounded surprised to hear of their survival" she noted. "What do you know of them?".

"Not much" Wade admitted. "Other than I thought they were gone for good".

"Ideas don't die, Wade". 

Bill walked though the Crystal tunnel, bubbling with excitement. It opened out into a small and compact room, with screens and scanners all around Bill.

"Welcome Bill Cipher" a voice said. "You may now select your Avatar".

Bill was immediately blown away by the choice. Everything from attire to height, weight, even nail length and eyelash colour. Everything was done down to the most minute detail. Bill smiled as he swung though the options. He wanted an appearance similar to his father, but with his own Bill Cipher twist. Hours had passed, but Bill was no where near done. Everything was optional, even the addition of small scars, spots, or dimples. However, Bill noticed some things had Council Recommendations listed above them, and showed up on the screen more frequently. Mainly, it was things like recommended height or weight. It dawned on Bill that he had never really seen any avatars that appeared above a certain weight, or ones that stood out for appearance at all. It surprised him, knowing that maybe this wasn't so open after all. Finally, after many more hours, Bill came to clothing. It was the one thing that could be changed at any time once the Avatar was created. The idea had given way to many clothing stores, who's stock was entirely digital. Over time, less and less psychical clothing had been sold. Bill still wore the little black bow tie his father had given him, and wanted to incorporate it into his avatar. Luckily, there was a bowtie option, and it was scarily precise. How wide, faded, or even what texture were all options. An idea suddenly blew up in Bills Mind. So maybe the Council wanted to limit people on their biological appearance. But there was no rules for clothing.... Bill laughed to himself, and set out making the brightest attire he could think of, the most fun, decorative, stylish items his mind could formulate. At last, he was some. Bill sighed out, happy with his creation. EQUIP AVATAR? now displayed on all screens.

"Yes" Bill said firmly. AT LAST! he thought happily. Wade and Amoreon were getting bored. The game of cards had quickly become uninteresting, as Wade tired of getting beaten over and over. Finally, the doors clicked open.

"They are back" Amoreon said at last. Wade smiled, as Will stepped out first. He had pale skin, with intent blue eyes, curly hair, and wore a blue shirt, with darker blue trousers and shoes.

"Looking sharp Will!" Wade called jokingly.

"Where's Bill?".

"Right here dad". Wade turned, and almost dropped the pack of cards. Bill stood before him, grinning like a madman, and waved almost mockingly. He had tanned skin, and, was that yellow hair? Wade shook his head, and kept looking. What in the light was his som wearing? Bill wore a dark shirt, with the trademark black bowtie , but the most shocking part was the shiny gold overcoat, with long coatails, hanging against his bright yellow trousers, and shiny shoes. He had a black eyepatch across his left eye. Bill smiled and laughed, spinning around.

"Well, what do you think?" He said.

"Amazing" Will said.

"Why?" Said Wade.

"Well, one out of two isn't bad" Bill laughed.

"What are you wearing?" Wade asked. Behind him, Amoreon stood quiet, trying immeasurably had not to break down into fits of laughter at Wade's reaction.

"This is me, dad. I like it" Bill said.

"Why yellow hair?"

"Because black hair is boring! It was either this or bright red" Bill said.

"Oh, I am so glad you didn't do red" Wade said. Maybe Bill had restraint after all. "And the eyepatch?" Wade asked.

"Well, you said one eye made me special" Bill reminded him. "So, I don't need it, really, but it kinda completes the look, don't you think?".

"And your eye?" Wade said. "Your single eye?".

"Its green" Bill said triumphantly.

"No, it's not" Wade said.

"Wait, what?" Bill looked at his reflection in the Crystal. Sure enough, his eye wasn't green as he selected. It still looked yellow and demonic.

"No" Bill stepped back. "That can't be right. I fixed it!". Since he was a child, Bill disliked his yellow slitted eye.

"It's no big deal" Will said. "Your eye is fine".

"What's this about eyes?" A voice called out. Circulus had arrived. "Apologies Amoreon, I should have called ahead" he said. "But I wanted to speak to Wade". He looked at Bill, who was still staring in horror at his refection. If Circulus was bothered by Bills attire, he didn't show it. "Now, what seems to be the problem?".

"It's his eye sir" Amoreon said. "He said he selected it to be green, but its resigned its yellow hue".

"A malfunction in the Crystal perhaps?" Circulus suggested calmly.

"That's never happened before. I don't think it's even possible" Amoreon argued.

"Lets see the eye" Circulus said, beckoning Bill over. Reluctantly, the young Cipher walked over, and Circulus observed the eye. "It's perfectly harmless" he decided.

"I don't like it" Bill said.

"We can't help that now" Circulus said. "In this case, it may just be a side effect of the birth deformity".

"Deformity?" Amoreon asked.

"You noticed the boy had one eye?" Circulus asked.

"Well, yes. It's hard to miss".

"I assume having only a single eye confused the system" Circulus said. "There's nothing we can do about it, but since their are no further issues, I see no problem". He looked at Wade. "You can take them home now, Mr. Cipher".

"Thank you Grand Leader" Wade bowed. "Come along now you two".

"But my eye" Bill complained.

"Hey, don't worry about it" Amoreon said. "Tell you what, I'll look into it for you. If I find an answer, I'll let you know". "Thanks" Bill said. He then spoke again. "Do you know if anyone else is coming today?".

"You two are the last ones of the day" Circulus said.

"Oh" Bill looked disappointed. "My friend Tammy has her thirteenth birthday today, isn't she getting an avatar?".

"Is she a Dream Demon too?" Amoreon asked.

"Yeah".

"Well that explains it. Dream Demons are-"

"Amoreon" Circulus said sharply. Amoreon fell silent. "There is no need for that".

"I'm sorry sir" Amoreon bowed.

"I apologise for my colleagues brashness" Circulus told the Ciphers. "You may go". Wade nodded. Bill reluctantly looked back at the Core Crystal, and then followed his father and Will out of the chamber.

"Sir-" Amoreon began.

"I know what you are going to say Amoreon" Circulus cut her off. "Save your breath. I don't want to hear it".

"You should listen" Amoreon shot back. "That eye is a sign. It must be".

"It would do you good to ignore it" Circulus said coldly. "I didn't rule for a hundred years by being superstitious. You'll come to a rotten end if you follow myths like they are reality".

"But this is different" Amoreon said. "This could be what the legend foretold".

"If you don't shut up, I'll burn every copy of the blasted legend!" Circulus said, raising his voice, causing Amoreon to cower back. "Like I already said Amoreon, ignore it".

"But-"

"Amoreon" Circulus said, his voice now holding considerable anger. "If you don't ignore it, I will find a Councillor who can".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Bill and Will have gained their Avatars! And we have come face to face with the Corrumpere Council too. Deciding what Bill would look like in a human form was pretty easy, as so many people had done it so well in the past so many times, so the basics are practically set in stone. Dressed in yellow, usually with just one eye, with the other substituted for an eyepatch. Chapter 3 is coming soon!


	3. The Way of Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill begins to dig for the truth of Eadem, and a few others things too.

Nobody really said anything on the ride home. Bill was transfixed on his new appearance, gazing out hypnotised into a mirror. Will led back, relaxing. The beings of Eadem never slept, for they had no need to. The energy of the planet itself sustained them, even food was no longer a necessity. It was eaten purely for the fun of it, and the wonderful tastes certain foods provided. It was what allowed the people of Eadem to develop their world, not needing the necessities other species in the multiverse did. However, when relaxing, Eademians could go into an almost comatose state, completely unresponsive for hours. Once, a Soul Demon rested for seven hundred years, and regained consciousness only to find he had been moved underground and stored in a coffin. Apparently, it was quite a shock, and he was rather pale by the end of the ordeal. Nobody really knew where the Soul Demons, Consciousness Demons and Dream Demons had come from. The idea the people took for granted was they had been formed by the planet itself, or at least the primordial void it once was. Although they couldn't effect each other, each of the three Demon groups had interesting effects when near other species. Soul Demons were known to pull the Soul clean out, but this required practise, and had since become a very recessive trait, and very rare. Consciousness Demons were very confusing, whatever powers they once had being lost to time. As for Dream Demons, it had been said the could access and invade dreams, but couldn't influence anything within them without being extremely skilled. But once again, this trait was rare, and hadn't been heard of in over a hundred years. Eventually, the Cipher family reached home. Will stirred from his relaxed state, partly of his own choice, and partly because Bill was impatiently shaking him.

"Come on!" He said, continuing to shake his brother. "Were back! We have to show mom our avatars already!" Will smiled at the thought, looking Bill over, and taking in the sight of his flashy attire.

"She's going to kill you Bill" he decided. In fact, Claire Cipher's reaction was not one of a determination to cause death, but one just as amusing.

"What is that?" She yelped, as Bill entered the room first.

"Check me out!" He said, showing off by doing a spin. Will poked his head in behind his brother, all to eager to view his mothers reaction. Wade was trying to hide himself behind a wall, praying that Claire didn't start blaming him for his son's new look.

"It is nice, dear, but maybe a bit much?" Claire said, her voice strained, but still happy.

"Well I like it" Bill said firmly. "And that's all that matters".

"I'm glad you like it" Claire said. "It is certainly..unique". Claire then noticed Will, standing silently behind his brother.

"You look great too Will" she said. "You certainly made the mature choice". As Will started telling their mother a in depth explanation of their day, Bill followed Wade out of the room.

"Dad?" Bill asked. "Can I talk to you?". Wade sighed.

"This is about your earlier question isn't it? The one you asked the Council".

"Happy to see you've caught on" Bill said. "I want answers".

"I suppose you deserve them. You're a citizen of Eadem now" Wade said. "Alright. What is it you want to know first?".

"Why isn't Tammy getting an avatar?" Bill asked. Tammy, like Bill, was a Dream Demon. However, although she was triangular in shape, she had two eyes like Will, and was a dark purple. She was Bill Cipher's oldest and closest friend.

"Okay, let's start with that" Wade said. "We are very lucky to have avatars ourselves Bill. You see, it's always been the way of things-" he paused, trying to choice his words more carefully. It hadn't always been the way of things. But it was the way of things now. "There is a structure" Wade said. "A social structure to be more precise. Each catagory of inhabitant here on Eadem fits into that structure. There is a top, but also a bottom. Soul Demons have always been at the top. All the Council are Soul Demons. The Defence head is a Soul Demon. The head of the postal service is a Soul Demon. They are at the top. Unfortunately, Dream Demons have ended up at the bottom".

"Why?" Bill asked. "How?".

"It's hard to tell. But Soul Demons played a massive role in changing Eadem into what it is today. They made deals, Bill. Many deals, deals that put them at the top".

"And us at the bottom" Bill grumbled.

"It's not like that" Wade protested. But is was. It was exactly like that. "We are different, both in appearance and attributes" Wade said. "Dream Demons have always been seen as too different to suit Eadem. We were forced back. No Dream Demons live in the capital, and we are the only ones who cannot have Avatars".

"So why do we have Avatars?" Bill asked. Wade blinked, and then shrugged.

"Luck, I guess". Bill was silent for a while. Suddenly, things he'd seen made more sense. The fact that Dream Demons never owned rich accommodations like the other Demon types. Some where homeless, wandering lost and alone. He'd never realised he only seen Dream Demons suffer that fate. When a Demon neared death, their colour would start to fade. He'd seen so many Dream Demons who were fading. Only Dream Demons.

"It's so wrong" Bill spluttered. "All of it, wrong!".

"It's the way of things" Wade said. "We cannot change that".

"They say this place is perfect. It's corrupt" Bill said.

"That's dangerous talk Bill" Wade warned. "You have to remember, we got very lucky to be allowed Avatars. If they don't think we deserve them, they'll take them away, or take away something even more precious".

"So we have to live with it" Bill said.

"Yes. We do".

"Fine. But don't expect me to agree with it".

"You know I can't force that on you" Wade sighed, exasperated. "But please, for the good of all of us, keep these thoughts down. It's okay to think, but there are many who won't take kindly to it being said".

"Okay" Bill said, calming down. "I understand".

"Bill?" His mother was calling.

"She's going to want to talk about your choice of avatar" Wade warned with a warm chuckle. "Good luck". Bill gave his father a smile, which felt almost strange. He didn't have a mouth in his real form. It felt strange using one now. Like an uncomfortable twitching feeling where the avatar mouth was located. Controlling the avatar was even stranger. It was more of a projection that a second skin, but nether the less, it was corporal, he could feel it. Bill Cipher couldn't really explain why. His avatar felt real, and interacted with the world in a real way. It obeyed his mental commands, as mild or as strong as he wandered them to be, but, after hitting his fourth wall tonight, he decided he would need to get used to this new body more. It was a confusing mess, and he was getting the first headache he ever experienced. Wade had said it could be a side effect. He was right. Bill sighed to himself. It was going to be a rough road ahead...

Bill was right in his quick assumption, but not in the way he thought. From afar, the house was being watched, by keen sea green eyes, which fixed intently on the Cipher home. So, Bill Cipher had an avatar. The first piece of the game was in place. The figure adjusted his dark cloak, which blended him into the night, making him almost invisible in the depths of the night. Only the shimmer of the stars above vast any light, which reflected in the figures intent eyes. The figure averted gaze, and focused. The figure reached out with his mind, searching, until he found his desired target.

"Cipher had awakened master" he spoke no words aloud, but they blossomed telepathically, being heard by the being on the other end of the conversation.

"The parts are in place. Now all we have to do, is wait".

"Very good Vickor" the voice replied, sharp, but almost weary in tone. "This may be what we have been waiting a lifetime for".

4 YEARS LATER

Alarms blared. Warnings warbled though Vocal Communicators and loud speakers. Eadem was on high alert once more. With a gut wrenching roar, a fiery monster burst into the open, spitting sizzling magma from its boiling jaws, which hissed against the ground. The creature gazed up, observing the night sky with fiery eyes. With another equally horrific roar, it sent a jet of flame from its mouth, which arced high into the sky. For the creature, it was a show of force and dominance. However tonight, on Eadem, it was nothing more than a beacon revealing its location.

"Target spotted"! A Protector yelled. The creature was an Infernobeast, massive, ravenous space dwellers who would sometimes hitch a ride to a planet on a meteor. This one was a juvenile, but just as dangerous. Twenty meters long, covered in flame and magma, capable of melting its surroundings, the Infernobeast was lizard like in appearance, or at least, a very fiery lizard.

"We are tracking the Infernobeast down 23rd Street" The Protector again."Orders Captain?" Captain Fearless stood firm, and watched the monitor closely.

"Should be an easy job, lads. Move in, use range weapons only". He sighed to himself. This was the third Infernobeast this year, and their arrival was becoming more frequent. Fearless could only hope it was coincidence. But he couldn't shake the feeling that the monsters were no longer coming to Eadem by accident. Something was drawing them here. But what?

"Look out!" A voice bellowed, and Fearless witnessed a fireball, so bright it was blinding, miss their Hover-Jet by millimetres. The flying machine soared higher on its twin turbines, out of range of the furious Infernobeast. The creature roared again, hissing and spitting.

"Stay clear of its mouth" Fearless warned the pilot. "Swoop from behind. We shall take it from there". The pilot nodded in understanding, and the Hover-Jet dived behind the Infernobeasts line of sight. The creature barley had time to register this new development before Fearless barked another command. From the Hover Jet, a barrage of light blasted out, and struck the Infernobeast on its sensitive back. The beast howled in pain.

"Keep it up! We've got this!" Fearless bellowed. The assault continued, spraying the Infernobeast with a spectacular light show of energy, which impacted the creature, this time, its impact apparent. The blast carved a hole right through the creatures torso, bursting out once again from its chest. The Infernobeast let out a strangled howl, and went silent, the only noise coming from the angry crackling of nearby fires, and the loud thud as the extinguished monster, now coal grey in colour, fell to the ground. The battle was over. The Hover-Jet landed a safe distance from the corpse, and Captain Fearless and his team walked the short distance to inspect their fallen opponent.

"Call clean up sir?" One Solider asked.

"That's the protocol Ricky" Fearless said. "It's the Protector way".

The Protectors had been called to Eadem almost three decades ago, to help defend the blossoming civilisation that was forming on the world. While its swift transition has thrust Eadem into a planet and a people that could now access the stars, it had opened flaws, glaring flaws that the Council alone could not fix. And with their now much more attractive planet becoming a target for space monsters such as the recent Infernobeast attacks, Circulus had come to call on the Protectors, who came from the planet Tectar. They where humanoid, each standing about six feet tall, with pale grey skin, and all with blue eyes. They had become known across the galaxy as defenders of those with misfortune, and saviours to those in need. All the Protectors asked in return from the Council, wasn't even of note in the Captain's eyes. But the safety they had given Eadem was invaluable. The people of Eadem now viewed the Protectors as local superheroes, but for now, the Council hadn't invested in full time protection. It cost, of course. Most the time, it cost the currency of the world in question. But the Protectors would take other forms of payment too. Perhaps it was time Eadem leave part time protection behind, the flawed weekly patrols, and only hourly guard duties, and invest in full time protection instead. For the sake of national security, of course.

"Surely you must see, Grand Leader" Fearless explained. "These attacks will only grow more frequent. The protection you have payed for in the past is no longer working as well as it should. Twelve innocents died today. That's five more than last time, and eight more than the time before that. This is getting dangerous".

"I see" Circulus mused coldly. "What do you suppose we do about this, Captain?".

"The choice is not mine to make. This is not my world" Fearless said. "But I can once again advise full time protection".

"It's expensive" Radius interjected.

"Surely not worth more than the lives of your people?" Fearless said.

"You're holding their lives at ransom!" Amoreon said.

"I hold a lot of things to ransom" Fearless hissed. "I can hold a great many more".

"You're disgusting" spat Amoreon.

"That's enough. We need not start a feud" Circulus cut in. "We shall consider your offer, Captain. You are welcome here until we have decided".

Claire Cipher turned of the Wallscreen. She was tired of this. How dare the Protectors ask for more, again! They saved lives yes, but still demanded more from Eadem, and even warned that not paying them would increase casualties? She huffed, half Angry, half saddened. Bill sat next to her, gazing at the blank screen in silence.

"What a load of crap" Will decided, as he strode in, having listened to the conversation on the wallscreen from the other room.

"We shouldn't have to pay them for safety" Bill said. "That's just wrong. You can't hold security like some reward above our heads".

"Well knowing the Council, they'll go for it" Will said. Wade Cipher was also waiting outside the door in the other room, but he didn't bother entering. Instead, he locked the door to the room he was in, and sat in wait. He was waiting for the call. As if on cue, his Vocal Communicator bleeped. Wade stood up, adjusting himself. He walked over to the holographic device in the centre of his office, and tapped the Communicator against it. The hologram lit up, and Circulus appeared, stern as usual. His image flickered for a moment, as Wade gave a bow.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" Wade asked.

"I think you know already. So skip the formalities" Circulus said.

"Yes, I did see the news" Wade said. "The Council had voted to take The full time protection from the Protectors" Circulus said.

"And?" Wade said.

"Why does that involve me?".

"Careful Cipher" Circulus warned. "That tone is not suited for this time".

"You haven't established the what time this is" Wade said.

"Oh I will" Circulus said. "And you will play the lead role in it".


	4. Right and Wrong

What do you want from me then?" Wade asked, his voice coming across a little harsher than he had wanted. The past four years, he had grown tired with the Council, and their constant calls. What did they still want from him, for lights sake?

"Fearless gave us the deal" Circulus began. "It's expensive, far too much for the Council to spare. But, there is an alternative". Wade hissed under his breath, waiting for what his 'Grand Leader' would say next.

"And what would that be?"

"Fearless said that the Protectors will take a corporal payment".

"Surely you don't mean what I think you mean" Wade said.

"They want Dream Demons Wade" Circulus said.

"No" Wade responded immediately.

"I guessed that would be your response" Circulus said, with a hint of sympathy etched in his stern voice. "Unfortunately, you have little choice. This is about what's easiest for you".

"Forget it" Wade seethed, no longer bothering to hide his anger. "My work with you is done, okay? No more! Forget about me, and my help. You will not get it". Wade moved to switch the projector off, but Circulus spoke again, cutting him off.

"You will listen, and heed, and obey" the voice no longer held sympathy, but was cold, agitated, and threatening. "I appointed you the representative of your kind, Cipher. I gave you the form you wanted and spared you and Claire from public scrutiny. And now, I call on you for a simple favour".

"You appointed me as their representative Circulus?" Wade hissed. "Well I represent them! They are not your slaves!".

"You have no choice in this matter Cipher!" Circulus roared. "If we do not receive the selection, then we will choose them ourselves, and I fear one of your sons could end up in the number. Do you want that Wade?".

"No" Wade said, his resolve crushed once again.

"Come now, don't look so down" Circulus said. "We've helped each other for years. This is just business".

"How many?" "Seven hundred will do, Wade. No more, no less".

Seven hundred. Seven hundred. And Circulus batted the number around like it was just that. A number. Not seven hundred living beings. And their freedom rested entirely in Wade's hands. Wade looked up at Circulus, the stern, powerful figure before him, with a face cold as if carved from ice, and Wade wanting nothing more than to burn the arrogant Grand Leader away.

"It will be done, Grand Leader" Wade said, the spite in his voice all to evident. He switched off the projector before Circulus could even utter another word. Wade sighed deeply, and slumped back onto his armchair. As he held his head in his hands, consumed in his thoughts, he failed to notice that he was being cautiously observed. Bill Cipher had only heard the last minute of the conversation, and he knew his father had agreed to something. But what? Hoping to clear his head, Bill set out for a walk, putting his avatar legs to the test once more. While Avatars did endure psychical wear and tear, exertion and exhaustion were alien to the demons who inhabited Eadem. Biologically, they were beyond it. Bill strode along, kicked at puddles and sending the spray in all directions. People gave him strange looks as the always did when he went out, but Bill didn't care. He had run out of ideas for the reasons they looked at him that way anyway. Was it the eyepatch? The attire? Or most likely, his demonic yellow eye, which hadn't changed at all since the day he got his Avatar. It has been four years, and despite Amoreon's promise, he had heard nothing. But despite their cold condescending glances, he would gleefully smile back, almost mocking them for their dismissal of him, as if he was in on a joke they were blind to. Bill enjoyed these evening strolls, they never failed to put his mind at rest. After a while of walking, he reached the destination he had in mind to visit. A small shop at the end of a street, tucked away so the ignorant passerby would never see it. But Bill knew the shop well. He was used to seeing the slightly cracked windows, the old door, and the tattered sign that hung lopsidedly above said door, reading 'Old Tony's Antiques'. Bill pushed the door open, accustomed to the welcoming ring of the bell above.

"Master Cipher!" The kind voice of Old Tony called out. Old Tony sat behind the counter, the same warm welcoming smile that never left his Avatar. His hair was wispy white, and he was wrinkled with age. While Avatars could be repaired after years of use, it was often costly. Bill could never decide wether Old Tony couldn't afford the repairs, or just didn't want to. As he had grown to know the shopkeeper, Bill had long suspected it was the second option.

"Good evening Tony" Bill said, walking up to the counter.

"The same to you" Old Tony replied. "Your usual, I assume?". Bill nodded. Old Tony dug behind the counter, and pulled out a new book, handing it to Bill.

"Take care of it Master Cipher. It's the last one" Old Tony said. Bill held up the comic to the light. Despite mainly selling antiques, Old Tony was also secretly a comic fanatic, and kept a steady supply for those who knew him well to purchase.

"The last one?" Bill asked, disappointed.

"Afraid so. They've discontinued all industrial production. As to why, I do not know".

"That's terrible" Bill huffed.

"If I ever can, I'll make some myself. Other worlds deserve these stories too".

"Well Eadem won't, any more" Old Tony sighed. "Things have been changing, Master Cipher. I fear we're only on the tip of the iceberg".

"I should get back" Bill said. Old Tony noticed the Dream Demon's sad expression.

"Change can be good" he offered. "I could have some new stuff to sell you. Better than old comics".

"I'm starting to think change can't be good" Bill said, and he left Old Tony to think on his words. Bill sulked on the walk home, the bitterly cold night not helping his mood. Maybe it was petty of him to be angered over the cancellation of some comic, but it was yet another thing added to the pile of things Bill hated. He had seen how some his friends, who didn't have avatars, were treated in public. He had seen how snobbish and vain the Soul Demon aristocrats were. He had seen a being literally beat to death in front of him over a feud, and despite his attempts, the Protectors had not only ignored the incident, but threatened Bill with arrest for wasting their time. As Bill reached his home, he noticed it was far more well lit than normal. As he got closer, he finally saw why. A parade of vehicles of varying sizes were parked right by the Cipher house, and a group of people were gathered at the door. As Bill approached, he spotted his father amongst them, looking pale and shaky as he talked to a well dressed figure. But Bills attention was drawn away from them and to a massive vehicle, lined with large, Avatar sized containers. But those containers were not empty. In each one, each and every one, was a Dream Demon.


	5. Falling Apart

Dad?" Bill called. Wade's head perked up.

"Bill?" He shouted back. The figure he was talking to turned as well, and Bill instantly recognised him. Radius, a member of the Council, flanked by Protector Guards.

"What's going on?" Bill asked.

"Not now son" Wade said dismissively. "Wait inside with your mother".

"You heard your father" Radius said snidely. "Go indoors and stay there".

"Not until you tell me what's going on" Bill said. "I have a right to know".

"No, you don't I'm afraid" Radius said. "Guards" he commanded. "Take the child indoors to his mother".

"I'm not a child!" Bill said angrily. The Guards grabbed him roughly by the arms and pulled him towards the house. Bill resisted, but to no avail, he was tossed inside like he was some object, not a living thing. Bill grunted and stood up, but the door was slammed in his face, and locked from the outside. Bill hammered on the door, cursing the Guards, but quickly relented. He didn't need to worry his mother or Will, who were probably waiting upstairs, unaware of the commotion he had just caused. Knowing he couldn't break his own door down, Bill went to the front window. The though crossed his mind of smashing right through it and confronting his father and that snobbish Councilman, but he realised that the Guards were all armed, and would probably shoot if someone broke down a window. So, the aggravated Bill Cipher watched from behind the glass, the glare from the vehicles lights making it hard to see exactly what was going on. He could see his father talking to Radius, and could see the conversation was getting pretty heated. However, he couldn't hear a word.

"Your cooperation is acknowledged, Wade" Radius said, as the Guards did a final count up of the Dream Demons loaded on the transport. "Circulus has spoken highly of you, you know".

"I'm sure he has" Wade said coldly.

"Now now, no need to be like that. This business is done. We can out it behind us now". He handed Wade a small wallet. "Your payment is in there".

"I did't ask for payment".

"I didn't say you did".

"Well I don't want it" Wade said sternly.

"Keep it. You'll need it" Radius said. "And the rest".

"Need it?" Wade huffed. "For what, exactly?".

"You know how I said Circulus spoke highly of you" Radius said. "Well he wants you in the city. Permanently".

"So you want us to just move?" Wade said. "Just like that?".

"City life is the good life, Wade. I can promise that" Radius said. "Oh, and there is no 'us'. There is only you. The offer is for you, and you alone".

"Then no. You can thank Circulus for his offer, but I'm staying here".

"Your family will be safe in your absence Wade, but unsafe in your presence" .

"What do you mean by that?"

"I think you know very well what i mean" Radius spoke sharply. Wade looked back at the house.

"I see".

Radius gave a smile so fake it should have invoked the death penalty.

"We are on the same page then. Will you join us?". Bill Cipher couldn't see what his father and Radius were saying, but just because he couldn't hear a thing, didn't mean he couldn't see a thing. And Bill saw with growing horror as Radius extended his hand and Wade shook it. He saw Radius break out into a freakish grin that looked horribly unnatural on him, and bark an order. A Guard called back, words that Bill could not hear, and the transport started to move. He saw Radius bid farewell and board the transport himself. Wade watched the vehicles leave, and walked back to the house, shaking ever so slightly as he walked.

"Dad!" Bill called, marching towards Wade as he stepped though the door. Wade saw Bill and flinched suddenly at the sound of his voice. "That was the Council wasn't it?" Bill said, his voice harsh. This time, he didn't regret his tone. He was mad.

"It was" Wade said quietly. "And they'll be back in an hour".

"What?" Bill asked, the other questions he was ready to fling at his father fading rapidly. "Why?".

"I've been offered a new job. One that pays well too" Wade said.

"Oh that's wonderful!" Claire came down the stairs, Will behind her, looking at Bill and Wade with concern. "Radius has got me a job in the capital. I should start packing, I suppose" Wade said, sounding tired.

"Why so down?" Claire asked. "We can all move to the city, right?".

"That's the thing I needed to say" Wade muttered reluctantly. "You can't come with me. The call was for me, and me alone. I'm sorry". The room fell silent as the Cipher's took in his words.

"But you're not going right?" Will asked hopefully. "Right?". Wade looked sadly at Will.

"I am" he said. He looked almost desperately at Claire. "Help me out here, would you?".

"This could do us all some good" Claire suggested hopefully. "A better job, better funds, better life".

"But dad will be gone" Will said. "Nothing can make up for that".

"I won't be forever" Wade said. "I can promise that".

"How long then?" Bill asked. "How long to you plan to stay away?".

"I'll come back as soon as I can. I promise" Wade said. "Look, I've got to pack. Radius will be back to pick me up in an hour". And with that, Wade vanished from the room. Bill should spend the last hour with his father, he thought. But he didn't. Will didn't leave Wade's side through the entirety of the packing process, but Bill locked himself alone in his room, the lights out, and sitting in total darkness. He wanted to be able to be happy with his fathers decision, after all, Claire at least could try to pretend it was a good thing. But for Bill, it was the opposite. Wade had grown more and more distant since Bill was born, talking to the Council more and more. And now he was leaving? It just wasn't fair! He couldn't just leave like that! Bill punched the floor in agitation, trying to expel the anger he was feeling towards his father. He could hear Wade and Wills muffled voices from the other room. He didn't know what they were talking about, nor did he care. Eventually, Will's voice had stopped, and there was silence. Bill's door creaked open, startling him, and Wade entered. "Get out" Bill said, stubbornly, not turning around.

"Bill-"

"Get Out!" Bill shouted. "I don't want you here!".

"Bill" Wade said firmly. Still, Bill didn't face him. "You can ignore me if you like. It finest matter really. But I will say what I have said to your brother. I will not be away forever. I will stay in contact. Will has a wrist communicator now, and I have left one for you too. I will call you. That's a promise".

"You keep saying that" Bill said, still refusing to turn around. "How many of those promises do you plan to keep?".

"I understand that you're upset. I know this is sudden. But I can assure you, it is all-"

"You think it's just that?" Bill said.

"No, I don't. I-"

. "I know you're keeping something from me, wether you admit it or not" Bill said harshly.

"The Communicator is downstairs" Wade said. "Its there for when you need it".

"Fine. Keep your secrets" Bill said coldly. "Just don't expect a call".

At last, he turned, but Wade was already gone. Downstairs, he heard the click of a door closing. Bill walked to his window, and looked out to see Wade loading his belongings onto a fancy vehicle. Next to him, looking as smug as ever, was Radius. Radius patted Wade on the back, and dumped a massive sum of money into his hands, before the climbed into the vehicle, and drove off. Bill clenched his fists. So much for not wanting to deal with the Council! Bill doubted his father would ever come back now. Why would he? He now has tons of money and a life in the city! He stormed down the stairs and snatched the communicator left for him from the shelf. What a joke! He doubted it even worked. Bill let out a hiss of anger, and his avatar fist clenched round the device. The only thing his father left him. Bill was more than happy to crush it right here and now, as his fist tightened more.

"Bill?". Bill let the communicator drop, and it hit the floor with a thud. Will Cipher had just come down the stairs, swiftly pocketing his own communicator from Wade.

"Is that fathers communicator?" Will asked. Bill looked down at the device in the floor. He then stamped on it, crushing it into the floor and sending parts spinning out, sparking.

"Not anymore" he spat, and stormed off. Will watched him go, and knelt down to pick up the pieces. What had happened to his brother?


	6. Corruption

"Seven hundred Dream Demons. Loyal Dream Demons. Innocent people who obeyed without question, ignoring the lifestyle they were burdened with. Tonight, we had received word that seven hundred from the Northern settlement have been unfairly taken. They committed no crimes, no offences. Yet they were taken, by registered members of our great Council. This cannot stand" the presenter continued to say, as Will and Bill watched intently in Will's room. Will looked on with concern and worry, but Bill almost smiled. He was right! And somehow, he knew his father was involved.

"As a show of defiance, tonight a protest has been organised at the edge of the Northern Settlement, where hundreds of Dream Demon workers from the mines and factories are expected to arrive, after striking in protest of this unlawful kidnapping. We shall be there, reporting live. Karlos Watson, D.E News".

"You, know" Bill began, looking to Will. "That's not far from here".

"Out of the question" Will said bluntly. "We can't protest! If we're spotted, father could loose his job!".

"You think I care?" Bill said. "Besides, how will they know it's us?".

"Use your brain, Bill" Will sighed. "We are the only Dream Demons to have Avatars. Most the protestors will be Dream Demons without Avatars. It would be a dead giveaway".

"Well, that can be solved can't it?" Bill said, and mentally commanded his avatar to deactivate. It obeyed, and Bill reverted to his triangular single eyed form. "See? Problem solved".

"No" Will said. "Just forget it all right? You're just mad, still. It's been two weeks since father left. You'll just have to get over it".

Bill huffed, and left the room. He floated carefully down the stairs, making sure not to make a sound. A negative of the avatars was that they didn't allow the traditional floating all Demons of Eadem had. The Council obviously wanted to ground their citizens in more ways than one. Bill stealthily made his way outside, still in his triangular form. It was the best way to not attract attention. Nobody would even notice him..

"Bill!".

Yep, nobody. Bill sighed. He turned round, but instead of seeing Will, he saw his friends. Orvou and Matrick floated up to him. "What are you doing here?" Bill asked.

"Disappointing my parents" Matrick said.

"We snuck out" Orvou summarised. "We want to go to the protest too. I assume that's where you're going too? Where's Will?".

"He's not coming" Bill said in a mocking tone. "It's, 'out of the question', apparently". The trio laughed.

"Hold on" Bill said, looking around. "Where's Tammy?".

"So you didn't hear" Matrick said.

"Didn't hear what?".

"Tammy's gone, Bill. She was one of the hundred they took". Bills eyes widened. No. Not Tammy. Anybody but her.

"We have to get her back" Bill blurted.

"Oh we will" Orvou said. "Tonight, we protest for Tammy".

Armed with new resolve, the childhood friends raced along, until they reached the amassing crowd in the field. Stands had been put up, and people had lit torches. The townsfolk from the small village just behind them had organised the event, and were by far the loudest protestors present.

"Hey, I see Old Tony" Matrick pointed out the shopkeeper, who had just now dropped his avatar and disappeared into the crowd. Signs weee being held up too, reading things like 'justice for Dream Demons' and 'our friends are not you slaves' and other things with more colourful language. Matrick came back with fancy hats from a stand, and passed them around.

"Bonding hats" he said. "Wonderful magic little trinkets aren't they? The Council hates anything weird, but here's, it all abundant!". Bill put the hat on. It suited him.

"Guys" Orvou pointed at the sky. "Look. Something's coming".

They all gazed up, the crowd did too, and grew louder in their chants. The Council has arrived. Their Hover-Jets landed, and a figure wearing protective armour and a helmet stepped out, surveying the protestors. The chant grew more, and Bill joined in, then so did Matrick and Orvou, chanting against the Council. The armoured figure said nothing but looked to another Hover-Jet that landed. Protectors emerged, but there's weren't the ones usually seen on the wallscreen. These wore black armour, so dark they blended into the night, only their glowing purple visitors visible. To make matters worse, they were armed. Bill looked around suddenly. Where were the news crews? That Watson guy said he would be here! But there was no sign of any cameras, or anything for that matter. It was just Dream Demons. And the Council.

"Something's not right" Bill said suddenly.

The armoured figure made a swift movement with his hand, and the Protectors moved forwards, weapons raised. Plasma Blasters. The chanting has suddenly become more quiet. Then, one Protectors opened fire. Then another. Then another. Soon they all were, shooting at anyone who moved. Bill dived to the ground, pulling Orvou down with him. People were screaming. Screams that cut short and fell silent, or were drowned out by the sound of plasma guns being fired.

"Run!" Orvou yelled, and he and Bill ran towards the houses. But then they saw more Protectors in black armour, their visors like blades in the darkness, unleashing flame throwers onto the buildings, sending the inhabitants running out ablaze only to fall to blaster fire. Bill was blown back as a house exploded, the embers flying high into the night sky.

"Orvou?" Bill called, but Orvou has nowhere to be seen. "Matrick?".

Bill stumbled around, collapsing behind cover as he heard more shots ring out. He was shaking. But not with fear. With rage. Pure, unbridled, uncontrollable rage. It was overruling. He was seeing red. He saw a protector mere feet away from him gun down another fleeing Dream Demon, and that was all it took. Bill Cipher charged with a scream, alerting the Protector too late, as Bill's hand formed into a blade, fuelled by his anger. Without hesitation, he drove it into the Protector's chest, breaking right through the armour and into the flesh underneath it. The man let out a scream as he fell back, dropping his weapon. Bill didn't stop. He plunged the blade in again, and again, until his foe had stopped writhing, and lay still and unmoving, their armour decorated with stab wounds. Bill stood up, staring down at the now dead Protector. He let out a scream, and fell to his knees, gazing down at a puddle. His eye was red, and not from the Blood that now mixed with the puddles water. It had turned literally red.

Bill looked, shaking horribly at his hand, which had become normal again, the blade forming back into a hand. Bill looked around, first to the burning buildings, then to the field, where only minutes ago, a protest was. The stands were trampled. Items were discarded. And there were bodies everywhere. Bill could still hear screams, but they were more distant, no doubt people trying to run away, being mercilessly pursued by those...monsters. Bill looked down at the body again. It finally dawned on him that he has just killed someone. He, Bill Cipher, had killed a man in cold blood. But he deserved it, Bill thought to himself. They were the killers, not him. Bill lay back, shivering, for seemed like hours, until he could hear nothing but an eerie silence. The silence was broken by a low droning sound; the sound of a Hover-Jet. Bill dashed into a smouldering building for cover as the vehicle landed, and more black armoured Protectors got out, followed by the figure in armour from before. The one who had given the order.

"Areas clear sir" one protector said.

"Excellent Rigby. Commence clean up" the armoured figure said, in a voice that was definitely male. Rigby nodded to the other Protectors, and they set out across the field, picking up bodies, and dragging them back towards the Hover-Jet. Bill watched in horror, as the corpses piled up, until the field was virtually clear.

"Sir" one protector said suddenly.

"What is it trooper?" Rigby asked.

"We've found another body sir" the trooper said. "One of our own". Bill cursed silently. He should have hidden the body too. Rigby and the armoured man walked over to the body to the Protector Bill had killed.

"Stab wounds" the trooper reported. Rigby looked down, removing his helmet, confusion evident on his alien face. "That can't be right. Our Armour is made from the finest intergalactic metal. No peasant could cut it".

"Then this was not done by a peasant was it, Commander?" The armoured man said. "I agree that no protestor do this. The culprit would very well still be nearby. I want a perimeter search. Now".

Bill began to move slowly, but stopped as he saw the man reach up, and remove his helmet. Bill gasped, and ran. He had to get away. The armoured man, the one who had just ordered a genocide, was Grand Leader Circulus.


	7. Starting Anew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of a massacre covered up, Bill attracts the attention of others, while trying to come to terms with what just happened.

The Cipher house was dark when Bill reached it, still shaking uncontrollably. He mentally restored his avatar form, turning back into it once more, before stumbling to the door and trying it. Locked. Bill looked around, looking for another way in. The window. It was open. Bill moved towards it, pushed it all the way open, and climbed inside, closing it and locking it from the inside. The house was pitch black, and even the Demons enhanced vision couldn't make anything out clearly. He eventually found the stairs, and dragged himself up them, before making his way to his room. He pushed the door open, and felt suddenly dizzy, falling forwards into... Will's room?! The lights were on dim, and Will Cipher sat at the other end of his room, startled by Bill's sudden arrival, and dropped his pen and paper in surprise.

"Bill?". Bill just lay in the floor where he had fell, unwilling and quite possibly unable to move. "Are you okay?" Will asked, concern in his voice.

Bill gave no response but a muffled whimper into the floor. Will helped him sit up, and lay his trembling brother back.

"Do you know how late it is?" Will huffed. "You should be resting or something". Bill, still shaking, said nothing. "I called you earlier, but you didn't reply. I thought you'd gone to rest" Will said, observing Bill's continuous shaking. "Unless you...No. you couldn't have. Could you?" Will looked even more worried now. But the guilty look on his brothers face was all he needed to complete the puzzle. "Oh, by the light. You went didn't you!" Will said. "I said not to, and you did!". Bill looked up at his brother.

"Help" he whispered. Will dropped his angered tone instantly.

"What's up?" he asked. "What happened?".

"I.." Bill began, trying to form words. "The protestors. Gone".

"What do you mean, gone?".

"Dead".

"Dead! How?"

Bill started shaking again.

"The Protectors".

"Protectors? What did they do?" Will asked, trying to get as much information as he could.

"Killed people. So many people" Bill replied shakily. "All dead".

"The Protectors killed people?" Will was shocked. The Protectors, who were supposed to be the brave, noble and selfless guardians of Eadem, has just killed a crowd of protestors? Surely this would be on the news... But then the realisation hit Will. It wouldn't be on the news. This has happened before. Never on this scale but..

"Help" Bill said again.

"It's okay now" Will assured him. "You're safe. You did nothing wrong". At that, Bill shook his head rapidly.

"I did wrong" he got out.

"What wrong? What did you do?" Will asked.

"I..I..I killed someone!" Bill yelled out, and Will slapped a hand instantly over his mouth to silence him.

"You killed someone. You killed someone?" Will repeated. Bill could only nod.

"Who?". "A Protector" Bill hissed, some of his anger from earlier returning. "He..I saw him. He killed one of us, Will! A Dream Demon! So.. I..killed him".

"How?"

"My hand" Bill said. "I willed it to be a weapon, and it became one". Will sat back, shaking his head.

"This is so confusing".

"You're telling me".

Will started pacing round the room, thinking.

"Right. Okay then. You killed someone. That's bad".

"You're not helping" Bill warned.

"I know, I know. I need to think" Will said. "I mean, they can't trace you right? They won't know it's you?".

"The Council might" Bill said quietly.

"The Council?" Will asked. "What do they have to do with this?". Something then clicked in his head. "Of course! The Council! We have to tell them there's been a Protector uprising Bill! They can stop it!".

"They won't" Bill said, slightly louder.

"What? Why not?".

"Circulus was there" Bill said. "I saw him with the black armoured Protectors after they killed-"

"That's enough" Will said, beginning to panic now. "I've heard enough".

"Oh, so you don't believe me?" Bill Inquired.

"No, it's not that" Will said. "It's just, wow. I wasn't expecting any of this tonight. I though you could have been beaten up or something at the protest, but finding out that the Protectors killed civilians, the Council is involved, and my brother killed killed a man all in one night? That's a lot".

"He deserved it" Bill spat. "He deserved to die".

"Nobody deserves to die, Bill" Will said sternly. "Nobody". Bill started shaking again.

"Is it okay if I stay here tonight?". Will smiled.

"Of course". He sat down and gave his brother a hug. "You can stay as long as you want".

The last light in the Cipher house switched off, and Vickor turned away. Tonight had been interesting, to say the least. Of course it was wrong to watch a teenage Dream Demon as he went about his day, but Vickor had little choice. He and his master had agreed that Bill would soon be targeted, and needed protection at all costs. Tonight had proven how vile the Council is. The threat had grown. Vickor had been there at the protest. His ability to turn invisible had served him well. He had seen people die tonight. Innocent people. But more importantly, he had seen what Bill Cipher was capable of. He has seen that eye glow red, and the blade that ended the life of the Protector.

"My master?" Vickor said telepathically. "I believe the time has come at last".

"Very well, Vickor" the voice replied. "Proceed".

The following morning did not help Bill's mood, not in the slightest.

"This morning, we are reporting live with D.E News. The protest spoke of last night by former reporter Karlos Watson was investigated by our loyal Protectors. We discovered that it was in fact an attempted terror plot, and multiple terrorist organisers were present. After failure to reach a peaceful resolution resulted in our brave Protectors being attacked-"

an image flashed on the screen, showing the stabbed body of a Protector, the very one Bill had killed the night before. But this time, it's armour had been removed, and replaced with traditional Protector attire.

"-We were forced to act. A fight insued, and the treasonous Karlos Watson was among the dead after the fight. The other insurgents have been detained" the new presenter continued. "A memorial was held for Private Peterson, the Protector horribly murdered in last nights attacks. Watson has been named the primary contributor to this plot, and with his death, Eadem will be safe. Norrin Reed, D.E News".

"Well then" Will said, trucking the wall-screen off. "They didn't just act like nothing happened".

"No" Bill said. "This is worse".

"Karlos Watson dead" Will said. "He was always cosy to Dream Demons".

"Yeah, they obviously wanted him gone sooner rather than later".

"Did you see him there?" "No. I didn't see any reporters. All the images they've shown are fabricated". Will sighed.

"Apart from the one-"

"Yeah, I know" Bill said. "You don't need to finish".

"He didn't look like you described" Will pointed out. "No purple visor, no black armour".

"They changed him" Bill said. "Even took away his weapon".

"This is bad" Will said. "Really bad". Suddenly, they heard the door knock.

"They're here!" Bill yelped, jumping up. "Hide me!". Will heard voices below as Claire opened the door.

"Bill!" She called. "Someone's here for you!". Bill looked completely terrified.

"Bill?" She called again.

"He'll be down in a second!" Will shouted back. He then looked to his trembling brother. "Come on, just play it cool, you'll be fine. I'll even come with you".

"Fine" Bill grumbled, and walked to the stairs, before going down them to the door. Claire was holding it open for a tall, thin, razor of a being, who's gold eyes fixed intently on Bill.

"Um, hi?" Bill said nervously.

"Greetings, Young Cipher" the being spoke with a almost soothing voice, and bowed slightly. "I've been wanting to meet you for some time".

"Have you?" Bill asked, even more nervous than before. Behind him, Will tensed.

"Why yes. My name is Vickor. And i am here because your progress in your recent studies has been astounding. Allow me to offer you a job".

"A job?" Bill asked. "What kind of job?".

"Not one you need fear, that's for sure" Vickor assured him. "You have nothing to worry about. Everything is fine now". He knows, Bill thought. He knows.

"If I can interject" Claire said. "Bill isn't really ready for a job. He's only seventeen Demon years and-"

"Oh not to worry, Claire Cipher. He is ready" Vickor said, looking at her.

"Yes" she agreed, as if in a trance. "He is ready, you're right".

"Who are you?" Bill asked. "I am Vickor" Vickor said calmly. "Now. Shall we proceed?"

Bill walked forwards cautiously. "You're not with the Council?"

"No, I'm not. I have no affiliation with them, not do I want to".

"I could come too" Will offered.

"No that won't be necessary" Vickor said. Will went silent.

"Now, Young Cipher" Vickor turned back to Bill. "The choice is yours. Will you accept?". Bill looked back at Will and Claire, who still stood in a daze. If this Vickor already knew about last nights events, and hadn't taken him out already, then maybe they were on the same side after all..

"Okay" he said. "You've got a deal Vickor".

"Excellent" Vickor said. "Now, let us begin".


	8. Resistance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill comes face to face with the head of a mysterious resistance.

"So when are we beginning?" Bill asked, as the day started to wane. They had been walking for hours. Vickor didn't appear to have any form of transport.

"What was that?" Vickor asked, looking back.

"I asked when we are beginning" Bill repeated. "You were all like, 'now let us begin' when you arrived, being all dramatic and cool, but since then, nothing?"

"Well what do you want to happen?" Vickor asked.

"What do you mean by that?".

"Well you haven't asked much so far. I'd expect more caution from someone who killed a Protector". Instantly, Bill jumped back, fists clenched and raised.

"What did you just say?".

"Judging by your reaction, I need not repeat it" Vickor mused.

"You're with them" Bill hissed.

"If I was, you'd be dead" Vickor said. "Just like those other protestors".

"So why-"

"Seek you out?" Vickor finished Bill's question for him. "Because if I didn't, Circulus soon would, and we can't have that".

"We?" Bill said, still wary. "Who is we?".

"In the decades since the Council transformed Eadem from a two dimensional primitive land to an advanced three dimensional society, few have ever learned of how they did it. When Eadem ceased to be Flatland and became what it now is, the Council put almost every piece of a functioning society into place. All except one. Democracy. Your people don't even notice it, but the Council rules absolute. Their will is done no matter what it is. The gaps between subspecies of Demon grow everyday, Soul Demons ever more rich and powerful, Dream Demons ever more enslaved. Your people have failed to notice this, too amazed by the towering pristine capital city, or the Avatars that hide their real selves. Those real selves are viewed as freakish because they are unlike any other organism in the second dimension. Born from Souls, Consciousness and Dreams. It's a magical start to life, one that has been pushed away".

Bill continued to listen, hooked on Vickor's voice. He had a point. One of the reasons for the bizarre appearance of the people of Eadem, and why they seems to be shapes, was down to how they started life. Nobody really knows why they appear two dimensional. Bill supposed it was just their biology. When two beings of Eadem decided they wanted a child, depending on their subspecies, the child would be formed from their Soul if they were a Soul Demon, their Consciousness if they were a Consciousness Demon, and from their dreams if they were a Dream Demon. It was a strange unexplained phenomenon, but it made them different. Their basic shape forms hid the primordial essence that was what made them up as beings like an exoskeleton. This exoskeleton only opened on feeding night, where once a year a gap would open in the exoskeleton to allow them to consume part of the essence of Eadem's Aura. There was always something magical, something weird about Eadem, and the Demons were the centre of it.

"Go on" Bill said, eager to hear more.

"Patience, young Cipher" Vickor said, before continuing. "Now, once the Council had competed the transformation process, converted an entire world into a new design, and formed the way to make Avatars with the Core Crystal, some of us noticed that they had become power hungry. Corrupted. It's almost ironic how they call themselves the Corrumpere Council, as if they know how terrible they are. We saw them change, loose their souls and minds, but keep the support of the people by giving them exactly what they want to have, but never what they should have. You should know this yourself. After all, it it's your father Wade Cipher who was granted an Avatar. But the freedom of Dream Demons? Never even mentioned. Some rose up against the Council. They died. What remained was pockets of small rebellion. They became an underground Resistance, working only in the Deep Catacombs, hidden from the world".

"Let me guess" Bill said. "You're one of them".

"No" Vickor said. "I am not from Eadem. I came here on the call of a friend. I fear he is lost now, but his ideals remain. But for now, that's not important". Vickor looked around, as they walked through some yellow trees and into a clearing.

"We are here".

"Where?" Bill couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Vickor smiled, and tapped the ground with his boot. It rumbled, and peeled open, with a tunnel leading down. "What is that?" Bill said, shocked that something so massive had been hiding under simple foliage.

"One of many entrances and exits" Vickor said. "Follow me".

"Yeah, no" Bill said. "It's kinda common knowledge that you don't follow strangers down creepy hidden tunnels in the woods".

"You killed someone" Vickor reminded him. "You've broken one rule. Will it really hurt to break another?".

"You broke one leg. Why not break the other?" Bill mimicked Vickor's voice mockingly. To his surprise, Vickor actually laughed.

"Good to see a sense of humour. A strange one, but one at that. Follow me".

And without even waiting for Bill to say anything, Vickor descended down into the tunnel. Surely if Vickor wanted to kill him, he could have done it earlier? His curiosity overriding his common sense, Bill followed Vickor down the tunnel, which sloped slowly until it reached a metal door, which Vickor now stood at. His bony hands tapped on a screen, and the door slid open. "Elevator" he explained, looking at Bill.

"You coming?".

"Sure, why not?" Bill said and stepped in. He was still wary of Vickor for sure, but the guy didn't seem too evil. And if he has insight into the Council, then maybe he could help him expose the truth... The elevator dinged and opened. Vickor walked forwards, and gestured for Bill to follow. Around the room, their seemed to be a number of elevators, tunnels and does, all going somewhere different. Vickor led Bill through the one opposite them, which opened out into a larger room. Bill blinked. He had never seen such a strange assortment of aliens and creatures before. And the Council thought the triangular Dream Demons looked weird. They had nothing on this freak show. Even Vickor, with his gold eyes and pale purple skin looked normal among them. Some looked at least slightly humanoid. There was a troll like creature, with some very strange looking eyes, but then Bill spotted a literal Lava Lamp, with what looked like eyes and a mouth, wearing a bowler hat. Another creature had far too many faces for Bill to even count. Eighty-Seven? Eighty-Eight? Bill couldn't tell. They all appeared to be gathered round a heightened seat at the centre, and now looked at Vickor and Bill, as the former led the Dream Demon forwards.

"I have returned" Vickor said, bowing quickly. "I have brought Bill Cipher, per your instructions".

"Very good, Vickor, you may take a seat" a smooth silky voice spoke. Vickor nodded, and sat down on a nearby chair, overlooking a large hologram of a map. "Step forwards please" the voice said, speaking now to Bill. Bill walked forwards nervously, his Avatar eye twitching.

Two of the strange beings parted, revealing another being, this one much more humanoid, sitting on a large throne that looked to be carved from stone. As Bill gazed upon him, he saw that the figure looked remarkably human, just like an Eadem avatar. An assortment of rings decorated the mans fingers, and his dark jet black jacket that sat over a set of dark armour contrasted heavily with his pale skin and blonde hair. Bill couldn't decide if this guy was some strange goth man, or a supermodel. But by far his most striking feature was his eyes. Bright purple eyes, that seemed to stare right into Bill, studying him silently.

"Bill Cipher" the man spoke at last to him directly. "Welcome to my bunker".

"Uh, thanks?" Bill said, looking nervously around. For a underground bunker, it looked rather nice. The walls were a dulled white, and hanging lights above lit the room up.

"Forgive him, he is a little overwhelmed" Vickor said. "It's a lot to take in".

"I imagine it is" the man said. "He's here now, that's the most important thing".

"So this is the Resistance?" Bill asked, looking around.

"I'm afraid it isn't. Not yet anyway" the man said. "But where are my manners? My name is Tenebris". He stood up, and walked to Bill, before shaking his hand. "It's an honour to finally meet you".

"Thanks" Bill said. "But I still don't know why I'm here".

"Ah, well get to that, don't you worry" Tenebris assured him. "But first; introductions!". Vickor sighed, and led his head against the table. Not again.

"Starting from the left, that there is 8-Ball" Vickor said. The troll Bill had seen earlier waved. "That's Keyhole and Hectorgon" Vickor pointed out two more aliens, one short and blue with a key shaped gap in his head, and one that looked like a shape with a hat, tie and moustache. "Plume" Tenebris pointed to the Lava Lamp. "Don't worry about him, he can't wave". Tenebris moved on. "That's Pyronica, Teeth and Gorgon". Pyronica smiled, a humanoid creature with one eye and pink skin. Gorgon was a dark shade of red, and didn't smile, but addressed Bill with a courteous bow. Bill nearly screamed when the pair or large teeth waved at him. There was no way that thing should be alive. "That's Paci-Fire" Tenebris gestured to a short grey, bull like monster, with what appears to be a dummy covering a second mouth. "Rounding out my crew, that's Amorphous Shape, he has a real name but it's unpronounceable to any carbon based lifeform, that over there is Kryptos, and that guy there, the one with like eighty-six faces-"

"Eighty-eight faces!" The monster wailed.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry" Tenebris said. "That's Torork there. It's impossible to guess how many faces that guy has. And finally, we know him as the being who's name must never be said!" Tenebris said dramatically , and pointed at a hulking faceless four legged purple alien.

"Uh, does he have a name?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, Xanthar" Tenebris said. "But he likes his title. Haven't got a clue why". Xanthar pounded his feet against the ground in agreement.

"Now you're done, why not let the poor kid breathe?" Vickor said. "You just introduced him to a dozen aliens from a dozen worlds, none of which he's ever met".

"I needed to get it out of the way" Tenebris said. "I could go on about them for hours, but we have little time".

"So you guys aren't this resistance I keep hearing about?" Bill asked again.

"Nah kid, that lots gone" Keyhole said.

"I'm afraid he's right. The Council wiped out most the Eadem resistance" Tenebris said. "We are all that's left to stand in their way. We are the Night Lights".

"Night Lights?" Bill said. "I've never heard of you".

"That's a good thing kid" Keyhole said. "It means we've been doing are job right".

"We've been trying to get ahead of the Councils plans for years" Tenebris explained.

"What do I have to do with that?" Bill asked. "Why am I here?"

"You killed a guy. Duh" Kryptos said. Bill flinched.

"That's enough now" Tenebris warned. "You can see he's uncomfortable with that. Lay off".

"Yes boss" Kryptos sulked.

"So what happened?" Bill asked. "To the resistance?".

"Wiped out" Tenebris said. "The Council saw to that. They were betrayed, and it cost them dearly".

"You can't trust anyone anymore kid" Gorgon grunted, as he walked over to where Vickor was sitting.

"Okay, I get I ask a lot of stuff, but could you answer my first question?" Bill asked. "Why am I here?". If he didn't know better, he'd think that these Night Light people were dodging his most important question!

"It is destiny that you are here" Tenebris replied, standing up and walking right up to Bill, looking him dead in the eye. "And your presence here will alter the fate of Eadem, forever".


	9. Responsibilities

Bill Cipher could finally say he'd had a rough week. First, he had received no word from dear old dad, which really wasn't anything new. Second, the protest he and his friends had attended had turned into a bloody massacre, and even now, Bill didn't know if Matrick, Orvou or even Old Tony were even still alive. To make matters so much worse, Bill had lost control, something he didn't even know he could do. He'd lost control, and he'd killed a man. For lack of a better term, he was now a murderer. And now, a strange alien had arrived at his home, all but kidnapped him, and taken him to an underground organisation, while revealing the corrupt nature of Eadem's ruling council, and now this being calling himself Tenebris was telling him that the fate of Eadem relied on him? Bill was just about done with this. This is way to much to take.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down" Bill said. "I asked why I'm here. I didn't ask for riddles!".

"It is no riddle" Tenebris said gravely. "The words I spoke were as clear as day. Eadem, rests in your hands".

"No" Bill said, taking a sudden step back. "No, it isn't, it can't".

"It's the truth" Tenebris said, looking at Bill, from his eyepatch, to his yellow hair, to his equally yellow attire. "Vickor, the legend, if you please?".

"Of course, Tenebris" Vickor bowed, and stood up.

"Legend?" Bill was even more confused now, if that was even possible at this point. "What legend?".

"The legend of the all seeing eye" Vickor said. "Passed down from generation to generation, world to world, all across the second dimension and behind what we can see, words spoken in a billion languages, out of awe, and out of fear. Though the earliest breaths of history, the legend of the all seeing eye prevails. It speaks of a world, changed unfairly, that is challenged by a being chosen by fate, a being of just one eye, who is destined to wield unlimited power, and to be the guide to the future of all reality. They called this the all seeing eye".

"It's quite a legend" Tenebris added. "And quite a burden to bear. We believed that Eadem is the world the legend referred to, and have spoken to two shamans from a distant planet who believe the same. We all knew that if the foretold being would be born anywhere, it would be here. We believe that the being of destiny is you, Bill Cipher".

The room was silent. All the Night Lights had heard this before, ever since Tenebris first learned of Bill. But even so, for him to finally say it, after years of waiting, was intense, to say the least. Bill, at last, was at a loss for words. Tenebris looked at him intently, and he could feel dozens of eyes doing the same. The only sound was the sound of Vickor's finger tapping on the desk, waiting for the deafening silence to end.

"That..can't be" Bill said, his voice silent and tentative, but his words shattering the silence of the room. "It just can't".

"It is" Tenebris said. "And will be".

"This isn't time for riddles!" Bill said, his voice raising. "You're wrong! You..you have to be! I'm no hero!".

"He never said hero" Vickor said calmly. "He said a being chosen by fate".

"Is that really so different?"

"That depends on what the fate is"

"But still, the all seeing eye?" Bill said, his nerves creeping back once more. "I've never even heard of it".

"Why would you? The Council controls all knowledge on this world. They wouldn't want the catalyst for their defeat to be known" Tenebris said.

"Okay, too fast" Bill said. "Defeat the Council? I can't do that! I couldn't even save anyone at that blasted protest!".

He went silent again, and stumbled back, surprised with his own words. He was right though. He didn't save anyone. He just killed. Killed without hesitation. Suddenly, Tenebris spoke again, his tone commanding.

"Leave us". The Night Lights responded immediately, silently, and without hesitation. As they left the room, Vickor looked to Bill, and then followed them out, the door closing behind him. Now, just Bill and Tenebris were alone in the chamber. "I understand your fear, Bill, I really do" Tenebris said. "It's hard, believe me. Knowing your destiny has rarely done anyone any good".

"What do you know of such things?" Bill asked.

"More than you know" Tenebris said. "Decades I have fought. On this world and more. We fought to free and fight for those who could not save themselves. They saw me as the hero. I never thought I was. All the death I caused. All the lives I ended. Who was I, but a killer? But the called me a hero, the Knight of Light. All of this, my team today, came from those tales".

Bill waited for him to finish, a mixture of wonder and sympathy in his eye.

"But why me?" Bill asked again. "You've done do much, I've done nothing".

"You need not look back, only forwards" Tenebris said. "I know you will accomplish incredible things". Bill looked down, starting at his reflection in the polished floor. He tentatively moved his hand over his eyepatch. And then though his yellow hair, brushing it back roughly. He had to do this. This was his calling. For Will. For Mother. For his friends. For Tammy.

"Okay" Bill said at last, and at Tenebris' delighted smile, his confidence swelled. "I'm in". If possible, Tenebris' smile grew even wider.

"Thank you" he said. "You have no idea how much this means to me. We will embrace your destiny together, Bill Cipher. I promise".

"Really?".

"Yes, really. You have great power Bill. Demonic Power, but power nonetheless. I can teach you to control that power, and wield it it to its full potential".

Now things were making more sense, Bill thought. He remembered how his hand changed shape into a blade when he slew the Protector, how it obeyed his will, obeyed his anger. Was that his demonic power taking shape?

"Tenebris?" Pyronica had strode into the chamber, followed closely by 8-Ball and Keyhole. Pyronica and Keyhole looked concerned. 8-Ball displayed as much emotion as usual, starring with his dumbfounded numb look like he always did.

"What's up?" Tenebris asked, surveying their expressions. "You look worried"

"Well" Pyronica said. "We have received another coded message. Same source". Tenebris' smile was gone.

"Right" he said. "Can we track it this time?".

"Vickor's got a fix on the location" Pyronica explained. "But he's worried that the Protectors have too. If we are going to act, we have to act now".

"Very well" Tenebris said determinedly. "We shall act".

"Act? Act with what?" Bill piped up, confused, and still amazed with himself that he had accepted this task Tenebris believed he was capable of.

"We've been reciting coded transmissions from an unknown location lately" Keyhole said. "But we've finally got a fix, and we now know where it's coming from". Keyhole held up a communicator, and clicked a button. The message sprung to life as a crackling array of static, which slowly formed into words. Numbers. Coordinates.

"To those who hear this" the voice, slightly muffled, slightly crackled, echoed. "We need-" static burst in. "We need assistance. We have been taken-" more static. "I have given the coordinates. Find us. Save us. Please. We haven't much time. They will come for-" the loudest burst of static yet drowned the voice out, and it went silent.

"So yeah" Keyhole said. "That's about it, I-" he noticed Bill, who was white as a sheet, and psychically shaking. "Er, you okay pal?".

"That voice" Bill said. "I know it".

"Know it?" Tenebris asked. "Are you sure?".

"Yes. I know it" Bill repeated. "I know who it is. The voice, it belongs to my closest friend. It belongs to Tammy".


	10. A Desperate Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill Cipher and the Night Lights launch a risky mission to free captive Dream Demons.

"Night Lights!" Tenebris barked. Vickor, Pyronica, Keyhole, 8-Ball, Teeth, Hectorgon, Paci-Fire, Kryptos, Amorphous Shape, Plume, Torok, Gorgon and Xanthar gathered quickly in the room, waiting for further instructions. "Luck has struck at last" Tenebris said. "Thanks to a selfless Dream Demon, we now know where the hundred kidnapped Demons are being kept. This is our chance to show the world that the Council they can beaten".

"Who do we have to kill?" Teeth asked, jumping up and down.

"Killing isn't the main mission here" Tenebris, and Teeth looked disappointed. "Liberation is our goal". Bill sat silently as Tenebris contend talking, going over a complicated plan, but explaining it in such a way that made it interesting, and even fun. Bill could see now how all these different species of aliens and monsters had joined Tenebris. He was a natural leader. Every word that came out of his mouth brought weight, and rarely had just a single meaning to it. Bill could see the Night Light's hooked on his very words, nodding along if they had heads to do so, or simply not taking their eyes off him if they had them. Tenebris continued to talk. So far that was all the supposed fearless leader of the Night Light's could do from Bills's perspective. Sure, he was good with words, but words won't get him out of dying if he's shot, or save others from a similar fate. Bill looked up, as the Night Light assembly separated, and began arming themselves with shiny silver Plasma Blasters laid out on a long table. Bill stood up, and ran to the table, picking up one of the weapons for himself.

"I cannot advise that" Tenebris spoke from behind him. Bill jumped in surprise and spun around, still clutching the blaster. "It's best you remain here" Tenebris began. "I can have Pyronica watch over you. We can-"

"No" Bill said firmly.

"I'm sorry?".

"You can't ask me to stay when it's my best friend who's in danger!" Bill said angrily. "This is my fight too!".

"Less than an hour ago you were convinced you shouldn't be here" Tenebris remained him.

"This is different" Bill protested.

"Because someone you care about is involved?" Tenebris assumed. "Look, if we had weeks or months to train you first I'd implore you to go, but you've had no training. If you loose control while you're out there, or worse, die, I won't forgive myself".

"I know. I won't loose control I promise".

"You can't promise you won't die" Tenebris said sternly. "So don't even think about it".

"But I can help. I know her. I know a lot of them" Bill said.

"I can't watch out for you the whole mission" Tenebris said. "It will be dangerous, and you may see things you'd rather not. I can't even guarantee this Tammy of yours is even still alive".

"Please" Bill begged. "Please let me do this. I have to make things right".

"Make things right?".

"Yes" Bill said. "Look, I can't prove anything yet, but I know that somehow, my father played a part in their kidnapping. I can't live with that. I just can't".

Bill watched Tenebris' expression carefully. Was it annoyance? Worry? Sympathy? Bill couldn't tell. Tenebris was hard to read. At last, he let out a sigh.

"Very well" he said. "You can come. But you have to play it safe. If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, I'm getting you out of there. Do you understand?".

"Yes. Definitely. Absolutely" Bill said firmly.

"Then we can begin" Tenebris said.

"Er, why don't you have a blaster?" Bill asked. He had just noticed Tenebris wasn't holding any weapons.

"Don't need one" Tenebris said. He reached behind him , and unsheathed a sword, which glinted in the artificial light. "I have this".

"A sword?" Bill questioned. "Bit old fashioned isn't it?".

"You'll see kid" Pyronica said with a laugh. "He's got the best weapon of us all".

The Starship skimmed just below the clouds, obscured by both them and the night sky itself. As it turned out, Tenebris had access to a whole host of vehicles and tech that Bill had never seen before. This Starship they were now flying in was one of them. Large enough to fit all the Night Lights, with large wings and large endings, the sleek vessel flew effortless and silently through the parting clouds.

"Camp in view folks" Gorgon reported. "Bringing us down towards it now".

"Camp?" Bill asked.

"That's the basic term" Keyhole said. "Work camp, Labour Camp, Concentration Camp would also be suitable names too".

"But why Dream Demons?" Bill asked.

"You should know by now, kid" Kryptos said. "Those old fools up high on the Council and your precious Protectors all view your race like trash. The Protectors had a debt paid to them in the form of living labour".

"Landing in five" Gorgon said.

"Get ready team" Tenebris said. "This is a stealth mission. We sneak in, break them out, then get out. Preferablely without getting shot at".

"Not getting shot at would be nice" Torok said.

There was a loud thud, signalling that the ship had landed.

"Okay team. Torok, Plume, Gorgon and Vickor. Stay with the ship until we call. We need a getaway team on call full time" Tenebris said.

"As you wish Tenebris" Plume hissed. "The rest of you, you're with me" Tenebris said.

"Hang on" Bill said, pointing at Xanthar. "What about him? He's huge!".

"Hey just because he can't speak, doesn't mean he doesn't have feelings!" Kryptos protested.

"Xantar will be fine" Tenebris said. "He'll be waiting just outside the outer perimeter wall for us. If we get into trouble, he'll cause trouble tenfold for the Protectors. Xanthar is a living tank. He could survive a bomb going off right under him. He's the being who's name cannot be said for a reason". Xanthar shifted from side to side in agreement.

"I'll monitor you from here" Vickor offered.

"Very good. We are all set" Tenebris said. "Night Lights, move out!".

As per the plan, Xanthar stayed at the outer wall, sitting silently, waiting for the call that would set him off on a destructive rampage. Bill clutched his Plasma Blaster tightly, following Pyronica, Paci-Fire, 8-Ball, Kryptos, Keyhole, Teeth, Hectorgon and Amorphous Shape. Amorphous Shape had changed shape, now looking much more humanoid that his usual blocky appearance. Bill wasn't aware that the alien was a shapeshifter. Now he knew. Tenebris led the way, using his energised sword to easily cut a hole in the wall, and they were in. The hallways were complete dark, but Bills eye gave him night vision, and he could see just fine. Keyhole however, tripped up twice, as blind as a bat. Tenebris seemed to have night vision too, as he continued to lead the team down another set of corridors.

"Hey guys" Hectorgon spoke up from just in front of Bill. "There are cells this way".

"Check them" Tenebris said. "Il go further ahead".

"Yes boss" Hectorgon said. "Oi, Paci-Fire, and the new guy, come with me".

"My name is Bill" Bill said. "And Tenebris said-" But Tenebris had already gone round a corner with the others.

"This way" Hectorgon said, and Bill reluctantly followed him and Paci-Fire down the hallway.

"I can sense them" Paci-Fire said, his voice unsettlingly deep.

"You can sense them?" Bill asked. "How?".

"I can feel emotion" Paci-Fire grunted. "I learnt to quash my own emotions, so I could read that of others".

"Yeah, Paci-Fire has no emotion nowadays" Hectorgon said. "Like, literally none at all. The guys numb to everything".

"Ah, nice" Bill said, risking a nervous glance at Paci-Fire. The bull like monster looked back, unblinking eyes red locked on to him.

"On that note, here are the cells!" Hectorgon declared.

"Thank goodness " Bill said. "Now lets-"

"Bill?" A voice called out from the nearest cell. "Is that you?". Bill recognised the voice at once. How could he not? Bill rushed to the cell, and looked in.

"Tammy?".

"I'm here" she replied. "You got my message?".

"Yeah we did" Hectorgon butted in. "You're welcome".

But Tammy ignored him as she approached the tiny widow of her cell. Bill blinked, expecting to see her in her purple true form, but instead was greeted by a horridly pale and thin Avatar of a girl, with long brown hair and violet eyes. Her clothing was faded and dirty, and her hands bruised and battered.

"Tammy" Bill looked at her. "What have they done to you?".

"They put me in charge of the workers here, Bill" Tammy said. "Forced me to have an Avatar to play the part too. The others don't like me. They think I've sided with The Warden. I've used my spare time out of this cell to try and get a message out".

"Well it worked" Bill said. "We're hear now, and we are getting everyone out today".

"I've missed you so much, Bill" Tammy said. "Days feel like years in this place.

"I've missed you too. We all have" Bill said.

"Where are Orvou and Matrick?" Tammy asked.

"I don't know. I lost them when the shooting began at the Protest" Bill admitted.

"Shooting? Oh I will kill that Warden when I get the chance!" Tammy thundered. "Shooting? How dare they!".

"Hey, can you guys stop all this reunion rubbish so we can get going?" Hectorgon said, as he began unlocking the cells using the override Tenebris had given them. "We're on the clock, you know". Bill smiled, and unlocked Tammy's cell. Tammy tackled Bill in a hug and smiled back.

"Thank you" she said.

"That everyone in this block?" Pack-Fire called out.

"That's all of us from this zone, sir" A Dream Demon called out. "Whats going on?".

"Well, we are breaking out" Paci-Fire said.

"Break out?" A voice came from within another locked cell, one that wasn't marked as a Dream Demon. "Of this place? Why would anyone want to break out?".

"Okay, lets go" Paci-Fire said. "I'm not dealing with folk like that today".

He led the shuffling Dream Demons down the hall, ingeing the voice still resonating from the locked cell. Bill and Tammy followed them, out of the hallway.

"Okay, just need to contact Tenebris" Hectorgon said. "Then we can get out". Whatever Hectorgon was going to say next was cut off by a sudden explosion, that hook the hallway and caused at least one of the prisoners to scream out loud.

"What was that?" One wailed. A second explosion followed before Hectorgon could reply, followed by the sound of shooting. Paci-Fire sighed.

"So much for beings stealthy". He armed his Plasma Blaster. "Lets kill some fools".

"Patience, Paci-Fire" Hectorgon reminded him. "We still have the Demons to get to safety".

"Fine" Paci-Fire huffed, lowering his gun. "But if I see a Protector punk, I'm blasting his face right off". Tammy clutched Bills hand.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"Honestly? I have no clue" Bill said. "But these two are veterans. I'm sure they know what they're doing".

"I really don't think you even know what you're doing!" Hectorgon yelled at Paci-Fire.

"Maybe not" Tammy deadpanned.

"Just follow us!" Hectorgon called out. "Me, the grey dude, and the lad in yellow! Follow any of us, and we will get you to safety!". Hectorgon led the way, followed by Paci-Fire, then Bill and Tammy, and then the group of Dream Demon prisoners. As they made their way to a large room, which appeared to be the entrance hall of the place, another door burst open, and Tenebris dashed in, sword out and swinging, leading the other Night Lights and another group of Dream Demons through the swinging doors.

"Ah, Hectorgon, Paci-Fire, Bill!" He called. He looked sternly at Hectorgon. "I swear if you run off again, ill-" He was cut off as Protectors burst in. These too has the same black armour and purple visors as the one from the Protest. But among them were normal Protectors too. Normal Protectors with much more frightening weapons. Behind them came an Avatar with a metal arm.

"That's him" Tammy hissed. "The Warden". The Warden surveyed the scene, as Tenebris raised his word, and the Night Light's prepared to fight.

"You've made your last mistake coming here" The Warden growled, his moustache quivering. "And now, y'all all dead".


	11. Fighting For Fightings Sake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill and the Night Lights mount an escape from Rickshaw Prison.

The Protectors opened fire, the sound of each shot reminding Bill of that horrible night, and the screams of those around him. There were screams now. The Dream Demon prisoners ducking for cover to avoid being shot, and the determined fearless war cries of the Night Lights, or rather just Teeth, who was shrieking like a banshee as he opened fire on the Protectors. It would have been funny if they weren't all in a life or death situation. Tenebris seemed at home in the carnage, effortlessly dodging Plasma bolts and bullets, an swinging his sword in a majestic yet skilled manor, cutting weapons in half, and then bodies. He dived forwards, cutting into the torso of a nearby Protector, before carving upwards, and slashing across the chest of another. Springing back, he unleashed two black bolts of energy fro, his hands, which struck a Protector, leaving a smoking hole in their chest. Now Bill could see why Tenebris didn't need a Plasma Blaster. Keyhole didn't mean his sword. Tenebris was controlling dark matter. Tenebris sent more blasts, each finding and bringing down their target. Suddenly, the front of the hall burst open, sendings bricks and shattered glass in every direction as Xanthar barrelled in, trampling multiple guards underfoot. He swung with a tree trunk sized fist, sending multiple of the attacking Protectors flying. The once smug expression on The Warden's face was now that of horror, as he watched the Night Lights provide cover fire as the Dream Demon prisoners made a dash for the Starship, which Gorgon has landed just outside and was now at the door with Vickor, beckoning wildly for them to board.

"Let none escape!" The Warden roared. "Destroy that ship!" Xanthar turned to the sound of The Warden's voice, and charged straight at him. The Warden yelped and flung himself aside as Xanthar thundered past, unable to stop, before crashing through another wall. Bill was panicking. He and Tammy had found cover behind a cracked desk, and were trying to shelter themselves from the plasma blasts flying in every direction.

"Bill!" Pyronica bellowed to him, as she placed two well aimed shots into a Guard. "Get moving!". Bill looked around, then down at the terrified Tammy next to him. By now, most the other prisoners had reached the starship. He had to get Tammy there.

"We can't stay here" he said, struggling to make himself heard over the sounds of blasting and screaming.

"Oh you think?" Tammy shouted. Bill smiled.

"We run now?".

"We run now" Tammy confirmed.

Bill and Tammy noted from their cover and sprinted across the room, trying not to trip over the unmoving bodies that now littered the floor. Bill watched as Tenebris spun in midair, swing his sword with the grace and expertise of only the finest swordsman, as he cut down another Protector, and lunged swiftly at The Warden. The Warden raised his metal arm to defend himself, but it did nothing to stop Tenebris. He slashed the arm off with ease, and kicked The Warden onto the floor. The Warden whimpered in pain, staring at his severed arm. He looked up at Tenebris, who stood coldly above him, sword raised, and silently begged. Tenebris took no notice of the terror in the mans eyes as he slashed downwards, and The Warden fell. There was a shimmer, as his avatar vanished. He was a Soul Demon. Tenebris strode away as his body turned to tiny shards, then nothing, the fate of all Demons who died.

The remaining Protectors and Prison Guards had taken no time that their boss had just been killed, and kept firing. Tenebris had taken notice that Bill was now leading the last of the prisoners towards safety, and was beginning to fall back, the other Night Lights following his example. One Protector shot at Vickor on the ship, who stopped the blast in midair telekinetically, and then flung it back, the blast finding its mark on the mans chest. Bill and Tammy kept running. They were outside now. Just a little bit further..

"Come on" Bill said, exhausted . "We're almost there. Almost there".

Tammy could only nod in agreement, and moved her mouth to speak, but whatever words she wanted to say never escaped, as her determined expression became one of sudden pained shock. She let out a strangled yell, stumbled, and fell forward, the whisp of smoke from a plasma shot peeling off her back. Bill looked in horror as she fell, and time stopped. Bill saw the Protector, in that horrible black armour, their blaster still raised, the barrel still steaming from the shot. Bill dived forwards at impossible speeds, that shocked even Tenebris as he looked on. The blade formed once again, and Bill went right for his enemies throat. There was no reaction. The man didn't even have the time to react. The blade met his neck, and there was a wet slicing sound as it went through. Bill landed behind him, and it was multiple seconds before the body even impacted the floor. Bill didn't even look back. He wasn't done. He was mad. No, more than that. He wanted to kill everyone in that forsaken prison. Everyone. He let out a scream, more pained and more horrible than any he had ever let out. Sharp spines jutted out from his arms, firing like bullets at any Protectors or Prison Guards in the vicinity. His eye went red, his avatar skin shuddering with the energy Bill now wielded.

"Bill!" Tenebris yelled, desperate to get his attention. "Bill! Listen to me! Control it!". The words went unheard. Bill looked around, surveying the carnage he had just crested. He could drop his avatar right now, unleash his power outright...

"BILL CIPHER!" Tenebris bellowed. Bill looked at Tenebris, who stared back.

"Bill". The voice was quiet, even weak, but Bill could hear it. Over the sound of screaming and fire, he could hear it. Tammy's voice. Her pained, dying voice.

"Tammy" he uttered, falling to his knees. "No".

Then he saw a flash from the corner of his eye. He turned to late, as Xanthar charged right into him, and everything went black.

"Bill".

"Bill?"

"Bill!"

"BILL!".

Bill Cipher sprung up, and instantly collapsed, groaning in pain. His head throbbed like it had been struck with a mallet, and his whole body ached. He didn't even know Avatars could ache. He looked around for the source of the voices. There was nobody there. Bill got up. He seemed to be in some sort of medical bay. The lights were a blinding white, and the floor only reflected their light. Bill then suddenly jumped at the sound of the sliding door whipping open, and a disgruntled and worried Tenebris walking in. He saw Bill awake and his purple eyes went wide.

"Bill!" He expressed with relief. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt?".

"Aches" Bill said, standing up fully. "Lots of aches".

"Are you okay?" Tenebris asked. "I understand it must have been quite a shock".

"Shock?" Bill asked. "What-" the memories kicked in, hitting Bill like a train. The mission. The escape. Tammy. Him.

"Where's Tammy?" He asked suddenly. "Is she safe? Is she alright?". Tenebris looked at the floor uncomfortably.

"That's what we should talk about" he said quietly. "Sit down". Bill didn't sit. He knew, with a sickening certainty, what was coming. "Tammy didn't make it. I'm sorry". It still stung. Even though he had heard her final word, seen her last moments of life, it still stung. It stung unbearably.

"When did she..you know?" Bill asked quietly, trying to hold back his growing tears. "Just after we got you out of there" Tenebris said. "If it hadn't been for Xanthar knocking you out, who knows what you could have done".

"Xanthar?" Bill remembered the purple blur that crashed into him just before everything went black.

"Your demonic powers are as incredible as they are terrifying" Tenebris said simply. "When you saw her fall, you reacted. You couldn't control the sheer power you possessed. It could have killed you".

"Maybe it should have" Bill said glumly.

"Don't speak like that" Tenebris said. "You have power that no other being in the multiverse does. I can teach you to control that power. You will be able to tame it and use it as your own".

"And Eadem?" Bill asked.

"We will save it" Tenebris confirmed. "I promise you now, that you will be the catalyst for the future of Eadem".

"But what if I can't control it?"

"You will?"

"But what if I don't?"

"You will".

"But what if-"

"Enough with the what ifs, Bill please" Tenebris said loudly. "Just take my words and run with them okay? You will. I promise". Bill went to speak again, but Tenebris cut him off before a single syllable could escape.

"And one more what if, and I'll have Xanthar knock you out again".

Wade Cipher adjusted his newly designed suit as he was led down the clean well kept hallways of the Corrumpere Council Palace. As always, it's loyal servents had moved unseen, keeping the place tidy and pristine, a home fit for kings. Which the Council were, of course. Escorting Wade were two Protectors dressed in gold, and leading the way was a short man in purple robes. The man was a Soul Demon, his avatar having a stern appearance, showing no amusement, or even happiness. Wade had never met the man before, but he had briefly introduced himself as Advisor Malak, the personal assistant and advisor to Grand Leader

"Hurry the pace, please" he snapped quickly. Don't dawdle. We don't have all day". Wade said nothing, and sped up, walking next to Malak now. The advisor didn't even address his presence, and walked silently on. Wade noticed he had an aura of smug class to him, a living representation of the privileged perfect life in the Capital City. Clearly, Malak had grown up with little effort in life. Eventually, they reached the massive solid gold doors to the main Council Chamber. Wade noticed the doors had changed since he last visited, the day of Bill and Will's Choosing. They swung open, and Malak led him inside. The golden Protectors stopped at the door, and waited outside the chamber, silently and stoically watching from behind gold helmets.

"Wade Cipher, Grand Leader" Malak said with a bow, gesturing to Wade. Wade looked up at the five seats. Today all five were taken. Circulus, Radius, Rounder, Oblong and Amoreon all gazed down at him.

"Welcome, Wade" Circulus stood up. "Thank you Malak". Malak bowed again, and retreated back quickly as Circulus stood up and approached Wade. "We have much to discuss" Circulus said.

"Can my fellow councillors leave us?".

"Grand Leader, shouldn't we stay?" Amoreon asked. "We are a Council, after all".

"Leave us" Circulus said sternly.

"As you wish, Grand Leader" Rounder purred. "Come along, Amoreon".

The Other councillors departed, leaving only Circulus, Wade and Malak in the room. Malak stood back, away from Wade. Either Circulus hasn't noticed he was still there, or just didn't care.

"Today is a great day" Circulus said at last. "And the first of many to come I hope. Our research has yeldied success".

"You do a lot of research" Wade mused. "What makes this one worthy of being a great day?".

"Lower your tone at once!" Malak yelled. "That's no way to speak to your Grand Leader".

"For gods sake, Malak, be quiet!" Circulus said sternly. Malak, absolutely terrified, fell silent.

"Our experiment, Wade was on a new energy. One we gave only recently been able to detect. Eadem Science Division had a proper, many syllabled technical name, but we call it Weirdness"

"Weirdness" Wade repeated. Could they not have used a better name?

"Yes. Weirdness. Now this energy is organised most curiously into levels. It appears in almost every living thing, in every one of us, there is a tiny slither of Weirdness. But it is far stronger in some than others".

"Others? Like who?" Wade asked.

"It's most curious" Circulus said. "Soul Demons have the lowest readings, and Consciousness Demons remain low too, but Dream Demons, now they have some incredible readings. They are more connected to the Weirdness than any other on this planet. The EDS assumed that this is why they get their basic shape forms. The forms are needed to be that way to contain the true primal forms the Weirdness enhances".

"So after all this, Dream Demons aren't as low as you thought" Wade said.

"It would appear they have new uses beyond labour" Circulus mused. "We can harvest this energy to a degree. With this unlimited power, Eadem will soar through the multiverse, eternal and all powerful. Who knows, we may not even need Fearless and his Protectors. All we need, are more Dream Demons. You are their leader, Wade. You must bring them here. As many as possible".

"Is that all they are to you?" Wade hissed. "Little objects of usage to drain and discard, like batteries? Are our lives not worth anything to you?"

"Yours is" Circulus said. "I cannot say the same for them".

"When will it stop? When will enough of my people die for you?"

"It will end when I want it to. No sooner. All of this is for Eadem".

"Or it can end right now" Wade said. "I'm done. I quit". Circulus looked at the determination on Wade's face, and the brave fire in his eyes, and smiled, a sick, horrible smile.

"Will you? Really?"

"Watch me" Wade turned to leave.

"If you open that door, your life is done" Circulus warned, his voice projecting round the room. "One more step Wade. One more and it's over".

"At least the villages will be safe" Wade shot back.

"For now, maybe, but your family sure won't. One more step and I will have them here, all three of them. And they will all receive a bloody public execution. And you Wade, will watch. For all they will know, you would have betrayed them". All of Wade's resolve vanished in a second, as Circulus' sneering words sank in.

"You wouldn't do that" he said.

"Wouldn't I? I ordered the execution of a parade of aggravating protestors did I not? That was at least a hundred people. What makes you think I care about three more?". Wade turned back around, his face pale, and full of guilt. He wouldn't be leaving.

"That's right Wade" Circulus purred "back this way now. And we will have a little chat about where the remaining Dream Demon villages can be found".

"Yes, Grand Leader" Wade said coldly, wanting nothing more than to put an end to his so called master.


	12. Training

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill begins to hone his newfound powers with the help of Tenebris.

Tenebris' new training regime started today. Bill was knocked from his resting state early, and taken down to a large arena, one of the many expansive rooms in the Night Light's underground base. Bill expected to be given a weapon, but received nothing but a push from Kryptos, sending him into the arena grounds. On the other side of the dusty barren field was Tenebris, who stood straight, with his sword drawn and ready.

"Isn't this unfair?" Bill called across. "I don't have a weapon!".

"Battle is never fair" Tenebris shouted back. "Besides, you have plenty of weapons". Before Bill could ask what Tenebris meant, he was struck from behind. Kryptos, holding a large bat, and Gorgon, with a knife.

"Fight!" Tenebris yelled. Bill ducked as Gorgon dived forwards with the knife, and spun to avoid Kryptos swinging wildly with the bat. Bill yelped as Gorgon slashed his arm, and jumped back.

"I can't fight them!" Bill yelled. "I have no weapon!".

"Oh, you do" Tenebris shouted back. "Plenty, in fact. But you must call upon them".

"Call upon them? What the hell does that even mean!" Bill shrieked. He ducked Kryptos again, and threw a punch at Gorgon, which he blocked. Call upon them. Call upon them. What did he-? Oh! Bill realised suddenly. His powers! The ones he had used to...kill. Bill shook the thought from his head. No. This time he will control them. He had to. He pictured a blade in his mind. A wweapkn to use against his opponents. His hand repsidned, and molded into a dagger. Bill yelped in suoeise as it emerged, and instantly, Gorgon lunged. This time, Bill was faster. He sprung forward, empowered by his Demonic power he could now feel resonating within him, and swung his dagger, disarming Gorgon, and knocking him to the floor with a well timed kick. Kryptos swung with the bat, but Bill caught it with his hands, the dagger vanishing at will, and pulled the bat from Kryptos' grasp. Kryptos stumbled back, as Bill brandished the bat above his head, and swung at Kryptos, striking the alien with such force he was set flying across the arena.

"I did it!" Bill declared, before being promptly smashed into the ground by a sudden burst of dark matter. Tenebris looked at Bill, smiled, and fired another bolt, which Bill dodged by a millimetres.

"Battle isn't fair" Tenebris reminded him, lunging forwards, sword ready to strike. Bill struggled to get up, and saw Tenebris diving towards him, and snapped his eye shut. Nothing. He opened them, to see Tenebris standing above him, hand extended. Bill took it, and his mentor pulled him up to his feet.

"That's all for today" Tenebris said. "Kryptos, Gorgon, thank you".

"No prob boss" Gorgon said. "Right Kryptos?".

Kryptos just groaned from his spot on the floor.

"Let's take a walk, Bill" Tenebris said. Bill followed him out of the arena, and down a tunnel. Bill followed quietly, trying to hide his complete exhaustion from the training.

"Sorry I didn't win" Bill said quietly.

"Don't be" Tenebris said. "For a first time, it was pretty good". Bill smiled.

"Really?"

"Of course! But that's not what I want to talk about. I know that lately a lots changed for you. Your life isn't what it once was. I know it's a lot for you".

"Do you really think I'm this all-seeing eye?" Bill asked.

"Yes. I do" Tenebris said. "As Vickor said, the All-Seeing Eye's legend is that a world will have its saviour. A destined hero. It all adds up. Even before your birth, people believed the All-Seeing Eye would be born on Eadem, and that Eadem would be the planet spoken of in the legend. Two shamans I once knew, Vregas and Mar believed it".

"What happened to them?" Bill asked. "Mar passed of age" Tenebris said. "As for Vregas, he went mad. Too long studying the legend. Whatever he learned, or whatever he saw, it was too much. He died not long after".

"What drove him mad?" Bill asked.

"No idea" Tenebris said. "Some members of the Dream Resistance found his body. A shame really. Both were aliens from another world. I wished I could have learned more from them, Vregas especially".

"And this Dream Resistance" Bill confused. "That's the thing the Council wiped out?".

"Yes. How I do not know, but they were betrayed from the inside. Sold out, hunted down, and executed".

"But we can rebuild right?" Bill said. "If I'm this All-Seeing eye or whatever".

"You are. Believe me now, you are" Tenebris assured him. "You have clarity. You see what's wrong with Eadem, and you can make it right. When your powers reach their full potential, you could be a god. The hero of Eadem, its undying saviour. Keep that in your mind. Everything you do, you do for Eadem. It's your home. Make is so".

"A hero" Bill breathed. "I can be a hero". And Bill swore to himself that he would. If Tenebris was right about him, about everything, then he could save Eadem! He could save everyone! The perfect world wouldn't be so far fetched after all! He could change it. He could change everything.

Will Cipher was bored to death. Life without Bill over the last few days had been dull. Really dull. They'd had nothing but some cryptic message that for now, the internship required Bill stay overnight. Will didn't buy it, and he knew that secretly, neither did Claire. His mind was still fuzzy from when that strange man arrived, and recruited Bill. What did he do to him? Still, Will had waited on the news, but it seemed the world had forgotten or even worse, completely overlooked the protest massacre. He still didn't know what had happened to Orvou, Matrick, or Old Tony. Matrick's parents had appealed to the local Protectors, but had either been rebuffed or later, just straight up ignored. Will was lost in his thoughts until he heard the sound of the door click open, and his mothers sudden gasp. Will dashed to the stairs, to see Claire tackle Wade in a hug, holding him in her tight embrace until it looked like he couldn't breathe.

"Dad?" Will breathed.

"Hey Will" Wade said with a smile as Claire let go.

"Dad!" Will dived down the stairs, and he too hugged his father tight. "You're back!".

"You bet I am kiddo. And even better, I have news!". He looked around suddenly, confused. "Where's Bill?"

"We have a lot to catch you up on" Claire said. "Come sit down". It took a while, but Claire and Will explained everything to Wade. Will was careful not to mention anything about the protests. Claire still didn't know Bill had snuck out to them, and the last thing Will wanted was to get his brother in any more trouble.

"So he's got an internship now" Wade said, after the Cipher's have finished explaining. "Where exactly?".

"We don't know. It's all quite mysterious" Will said.

"And you let him go?" Wade asked, astounded.

"You weren't there. The guy who came to collect Bill, he was weird. He said what he wanted to say, and we just nodded along like a trace or something. We just agreed".

"Bill called though" Will said. "The other night he called, said he was safe, and enjoying his work".

"Did he say what he was up to?" Wade asked.

"Nope. Nothing" Will said. "Weird, right?"

"Very" Wade agreed.

"At least he's safe" Claire said. "Safer and there than here, anyway. Things have been getting rough around here".

"Well my news should be all the more resonant then" Wade exclaimed. "My work with the Council is taken longer than expected. So, they have agreed to let you all move to the city! You'll live in a ver fancy home, all expenses paid for, and we will all be together again!".

"That's wonderful!" Claire exclaimed, embracing Will again.

"What about Bill?" Will asked.

"I'll call him later. Tell him what's going on" Wade said. "But as for the rest of you, get packing!".

Hours later, and they were ready to go. The moving vechile had arrived, and most the Cipher's belongings were packed. Will had seen to it that all of Bills stuff was safely packed. But as for hearing from his brother, things couldn't have been more quiet. Instead of Bill answering the call, the number Wade had got from the card Vickor had left, it was Vickor himself who answered it. Nonetheless, he assured Wade that he would pass the message onto Bill, and that their 'workplace' had direct access into the city anyway, so travel would be no problem. But in all honestly, Wade secretly preferred that Bill was away. He didn't like having to move, especially since he was moving the people he cared most about right into the back yard of the people who threatened to harm them. None of these recent events had put Wade at ease. He wasn't at ease through their entire trip into the city, and found himself looking over his shoulder most the way. And when they arrived, he insisted on going into their large new home first, to check for any cameras, or worse, any traps. To his surprise, he found nothing. But the initial relief turned to paranoia soon enough. The Council would be watching, and if not by cameras, they would certainly have other methods. Wade helped unpack, but still was on edge. Even after the moving vehicle had long gone, he still didn't feel at ease, and defiantly didn't feel safe. He should never have taken the job, all those years ago. Once you've been with the Council once, you can never leave.


	13. The Truth?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Cipher plays a risky game, infiltrating the Council Palace to find out what Wade has really been up to.

Will Cipher couldn't help but notice his stressed his father looked. He hadn't noticed it yesterday, when the all moved to the city. But now, he could see clearly. His dad was a pale mess, a look of worry permanently grafted to his face. When he asked about it, Wade merely told him he was fine, and it was nothing to worry about. The same answer, all through the morning. Will knew something was wrong. Claire was resting in her dormant state, exhanstued from moving in the previous night. So as Wade departed to work in the hover-car the Council had lent, Will followed, and stowed away in the back, unnoticed by his father.

"This is wrong" he muttered to himself, cramped in the boot of the hover-car. "This is so, so wrong".

Not to mention illegal, he thought. If he was caught, who knows what would happen to him. The trip was longer than Will thought, but eventually, he felt the hover-car slow, and heard Wade talking to someone, probably a Guard watching the entrance. Will waited silently, praying that the guard wouldn't ask to check the boot. To his relief, he didn't, and the hover-car was moving once again. The next time it slowed, it stopped entirely. Will heard the door open, and slam shut. He waited until he could no longer hear Wade's retreating footsteps, before opening the unlocked boot and climbing out. He'd have to get back to the hover-car before Wade at the end of the day, and made a mental note to so so. Stretching, Will looked around. The hover-car was parked near many others in a massive indoor building, with massive lights floating overhead, no doubt on anti-gravity projectors. Will saw the massive set of stairs that led inside the main building, and made his way towards them. There were other people around, but nobody took any notice. Will moved amongst them, blending in as he reached the main entrance.

Sneaking past the guards checking workers identification, Will made his way inside. This room was even more grand than the parking area, which was far more grand then anything Will had seen before. He now understood why the place was called the Council Palace. It was a place fit for a king. Will then noticed Wade, and followed his dad at a distance, as Wade made his way up another set of stairs, approaching a door away from all the others the other workers were using. These stairs were a steep incline, and branched off in other directions like a tree, leading to other doors. Wade was heading straight for the top. Will noticed how the higher he got, less and less workers were on the stairs. He wasn't so hidden anymore. Wade kept walking further and further up the stairs, and Will found himself moving while crouching down to avoid being seen from below, silently praying that his father soundly wouldn't suddenly chose to look back and saw his son hiding on the stairs. But to Will's relief, not once did Wade even chance a glance back. Wade reached the door at the top of the stairs, and swung it wide open, with much more force than Will could have ever expected from his usually calm and collected father, the door swinging open with the force of Wade's shove, as he strode inside. Making a split second decision, Will sprung up and dashed up the last few stairs darting inside just before the door closed behind him. Will had a momentary burst of panic, as he realised he was complete exposed. But Wade, once more, was too caught in his own thoughts that he didn't think to look back. Will ducked behind a archaic statue and finally took a moment to amodre the massive room.

The statue that now served as his cover was not alone in the chamber. Will recognised it as part of the Council Chamber, but one of its side rooms, tucked away, and the door they had come though being the only way in or out. Other statues lined the room, statues of different sizes, and different depictions. Most looked ancient. One portrayed a man with a sword raised high into the air, a silent declaration of victory upon its iron lips. Another, far newer than any others, showed an all too familiar figure, dressed it glamorous attire, and a staff clashed in his hands. Will wasn't surprised the Circulus have carved himself into history alongside these other figures. If anything, the other statues looked dulled in comparison, as if proving that the Grand Leader was above everything, even the past. A small gathering of people had met in the middle of the room, observing a concealed structure that took up the entire centre point of the chamber. Wade stood next to a man dressed in purple, and in front of them, with the same cold look he always wore, was Circulus. There was also another person present, one dressed in the sinister black armour that Bill had mentioned, but as Will examined this newcomers face, he finally recognised it. The Protectors leader, Captain Fearless.

"I thank you for your short notice visit" Circulus began. "I hope it was of no trouble?".

"Not at all, sir" Wade said. "No trouble".

"I do have pressing matters to attend to, Circulus" Fearless said impatiently.

"I thought you're always up for a little dramatic build up, Fearless" Circulus said. "All the heroic quips and cheesy one liners that flow like water from the mouth of yours. Am I not allowed to indulge this once?". Fearless, said nothing, but looked away, more than a little embarrassed, invoking a snicker from Malak.

"Just show it already".

"Very well" Circulus pressed a button, and the structure peeled apart like something inside it was hatching out, revealing a glowing ball of multicoloured energy at least four metres across, which glowed in an eerie light, and pulsed like a human heart. Will found himself fixed on it, mesmerised by the swirling colours, the pretty lights...

"No" he muttered to himself, looking away suddenly, snapping himself out of his trance. There was smithing very wrong about that orb.

"It's a ball" Fearless said bluntly.

"A very nice ball, Grand Leader" Malak added, his enthusiasm so false it hurt. Circulus looked at Wade, who gave a small shrug.

"Don't look at me, I don't know what it is".

"Well, for your information, this is the key to Eadem's future" Circulus said.

"Well what is it?" Fearless asked.

"Weirdness" Circulus said.

"Yeah, I know that, but what is it?" Fearless asked again.

"He said it, you bumbling fool" Malak huffed.

"You're joking" Fearless laughed.

"He's not" Wade sighed. "I wish he was".

"Weirdness is the key" Circulus said. "It's an energy source, one that I don't fully understand, but it's origins are not of this dimension, or any dimension that I know of".

"That's because it's not from any dimension" Wade piped up. "It's the froth in between". Circulus smiled.

"There, that wasn't so hard was it? Now you're being useful".

"But where are you getting this stuff from?" Fearless asked. "It's not like we have a portal to the primordial void lying around".

"It's relatively self sustaining, but we needed a source as a boost" Circulus explained. "The first discovery was within a meteor that fell here decades ago. Since then, we have found traces of Weirdness in almost every living thing on Eadem, including the very planet itself.

"I'm sorry if I sound stupid" Fearless said "but are you saying the planet is alive?".

"Indeed it is" Circulus said. "Eadem is a living ecosystem". Fearless smiled.

"This place keeps getting better and better".

"Now, while it is present in all of us" Circulus explained "Some have it stronger than others. One group in particular in fact". He turned to Wade. "You know this already, but Fearless does not, and he needs to know. Dream Demons".

"I see" Fearless said. "So that explains it".

"Explains what?" Wade asked. "Our last mission" Fearless said.

"What did you do?" Wade asked, anger now ecdemt in your voice.

"He obeyed my command" Circulus said firmly. "We cleared you and your family out, Wade. What reason did you think that was for? We got your permission, as leader of the Dream Demons, so Fearless went ahead. Thanks to the Protectors, the source is stable". Wade's eyes widened.

"You didn't".

"I had to" Circulus insisted. "For Eadems's future, of course".

"Don't stress, Wade" Malak said with a laugh. "The Source, this source, will have a proper containment facility where that mangy old town used to be. It'll sure look better than the second rate Folk who lived there before! I mean-" Malak was cut oof as Wade's fist struck his face, and the advisor crumbled into a heap on the floor. Wade stared down at the unconscious Malak with hatred burning bright in his eyes.

"That was unneeded" Circulus said.

"Those deaths were too" Wade spat. "But you didn't care about that, did you?".

"It's not my job to care" Circulus hissed. "It's my job to command. And I will do just that. No matter who dies in the process".

Will gasped aloud. Instantly, heads turned and he clamped his hands over his mouth. Too late. He was exposed.

"An intruder!" Fearless yelled, and raised a plasma blaster. Without thinking, he fired, sending Will darting from behind the statue into the open.

"Will?" Wade said astounded. "What are you-" He was cut off as Fearless shot again.

"Protectors! We have an intruder! Shoot to kill!" He yelled. Will yelped and dashed fro the door.

"Seal it!" Circulus yelled. He looked back and saw Malak unconscious, and scowled.

"No!" Wade shouted. "That's my son!". Circulus made a move for the control panal, but Wade dived at him, tackling the Grand Leader to the ground. Will saw none of it, and was already out the door, and toppling haphazardly done the stairs, shoving workers and emissaries out of his way as he sprinted down, Fearless giving close pursuit.

"All Protectors! Find the fugitive!" Fearless shouts into his communicator. "Suspect is a juvenile avatar with blue attire, and blonde hair!". Will kept running, his only thoughts to keep running, and that Bill was right. Bill had been right all along. Only now Will's feelings were even stronger than his brother. Their father was the enemy. And he needed to pay.


	14. An Unlikely Ally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fleeing Captain Fearless and the Protectors, Will Cipher gets assistance from an unlikly individual...

Will sprung forwards, trying to put as much distance between himself and his pursuers as possible. He could hear Captain Fearless' furious voice bellowing out, commanding for the target to be killed. Will was the target, which was the problem. Chancing a look back, he saw Protectors, one with the sinister black armour, chasing after him. Will kept running, roughy shoving a scientist to the floor, who sprawled out, tripping one of the Protectors in the process. The one in black armour didn't wait for their comrade to stand, but kept up the chase, rasing their Plasma Blaster, and sending a sizzling bolt that skimmed Will, searing his shoulder. Will yelped and stumbled, turning a corner. Dead end. A locked door was in front of him, burrowed into a metal wall. He was trapped. Will tensed, as he heard the Protectors growing closer, and prepared to fight, his wrists and now his whole body trembling in fear. He had never been the brave one of the family. What could he do now? In his panic, he failed to hear the door slide open bwhind him, nor the swift footsteps. Suddenly, he was grabbed by a pair of hands and pulled though the door, just as the Protectors rounder the corner and yelled out.

"There he is!". Before Will could so much as jerk away, the doors slammed in front of him, and the small compact room started moving. An elevator. The hands broke away from him, and Will turned to punch the newcomer, who yelped in surprise, ducked, and planted a swift kick to Will"s chest, knocking him down. Dazed, Will looked up to see a familiar female face.

"Councillor Amoreon?" He said. "What are you..I mean how?". Amoreon looked down at Will, held out her hand, which Will took, and pulled him to his feet.

"You've caused a lot of ruckus" she deadpanned. "There's a kill order on your head". Will stood back from her, arms raised, ready to fight.

"I assume you want to take me in". Amoreon held up her hands.

"I want to get you out". Will lowered his fists. "What why?".

"Simple. I want to know what's going on. What did you see in there?".

"Wait, you saw me?" Will asked.

"Of course. I assumed you were accompanying your father". She smiled. "I know now that was not entirely accurate".

"Not entirely" Will admitted. His mind wandered back to his father. His father, the traitor, the killer. He was shaking again. His grip on the side of the elevator slipped, and he slid to the floor. Tears streaked down his face, as he sat in silent horror at what had just transpired.

"What happened?" Amoreon asked, crouching down next to him.

"My dads a traitor" Will choked out. "He's a killer. Circulus too. And Fearless. They...have a machine, this power source or something. Circulus has been killing Dream Demons to power his machine. Fearless had done the deed for him. And dad.." Will choked up again. "Has supplied them to him. Revealed the locations, given away their lives like they were nothing. He's the enemy". Amoroens eyes widened, and a tear brimmed her eye as she embraced the sobbing Will.

"I'm so, so sorry" she said. "I should have known. Circulus is crooked. But never in a million years would I believe him capable of this".

"I have to find my brother" Will said. "He knows more about this. He's with a guy called Vickor".

"Vickor?" Amoreon asked.

"Yeah" Will confirmed. "Why? Do you know him?".

"I do" Amoreon said wistfully. "He and I, well, it's a long time ago now. I haven't spoken to that old off-worlder in years". The elevator door peeled open, giving way to a empty dark hallway. "Right, first things first, we get out of here". Amoreon said. She led Will down the hall, past darkened rooms, long since abandoned .

"Where are we?" Will asked. "The upper parts of the palace" Amoreon said. "Once people worked here. Now, nobody does. Not really". She opened another door. "Down here". She led Will down a long winding staircase, lit only by dull torches, that looked on the verge of going out. Eventually, she walked him into another room, this one he recognised.

"The Avatar Chamber?" Will asked, looking at the shining Core Crystal. "Why here?"

"You won't get far now they have your appearance" Amoreon said. "Luckily, appearances can change". Will smiled.

"I see where you're going with this". Amoreon nodded, and started tapping buttons on a screen tucked into the Crystal. "Hold still". Will stood straight, as Amoreon held up a scanner. As the blue light skimmed over him, Will's avatar changed. He looked older. More tanned. Longer hair. Different clothes. A complete different person.

"You can walk outta here safe" Amoreon said.

"What about you?" Will asked. "When they find out you've helped me, they'll come for you".

"That is inevitable. All fates are. But you get to live another day". Will nodded firmly, and then hugged Amoreon, much to her surprise.

"Thank you". Amoroen smiled.

"Your welcome".

"What are you going to do?" Will asked.

"Find the truth. Whatever that may be" she said. "Find Vickor. Then you will find your brother. Their is a legend out there, we both believed it once. Maybe the time has come to believe again". Will walked towards the exit.

"Thank you Amoreon. Good luck". And with that, he was gone, darting down the hall. Amoreon watched him go, filled with a sense of pride and purpose she hadn't felt in decades. This was the right thing. She turned back to the Core Crystal, that had been the symbol of Eadem's change for so long. Perhaps it was time to change again.

"Focus" Tenebris said, forcing his sword down again, and Bill desperately raised his own blade, shooting from his hand, to defend himself. Bill pushed upwards, causing Tenebris to falter back, holding his sword in a defensive position, waiting for Bills next move. Seeing this, Bill felt a sudden surge of confidence, and a second blade emerged from his other hand. Tenebris smiled at this, and changed his stance. "Dwell not on your thoughts" Tenebris said. "Hone your emotions. Let them be your strength. Anger, use it to strike". Bill nodded. He had plenty to make him angry. The protest. The unfairness of Eadem. His fathers betrayel. He felt different. Stronger. Angrier. More powerful. "That's it!" Tenebris said. "Harness your power!".

Bill grunted in exertion, there was a ringing in his Avatar ears, and his entire body was aching. Then, he dropped his avatar form entirely, his once yellow exoskeleton now glowing red, his eye pitch black with a gleaming red pupil. He levitated effortlessly in the air, blades still drawn. He willed them to move, and they shot out, spiralling at Tenebris, who reacted quickly, cleaving each blade in half with two swift precise swings of his sword. Bill didn't stop though. He created more daggers, making them pop up from nothing in mid air, and flung them telekinetically at Tenebris. Tenebris deflected, dodged, and struck back against the flying daggers, before unleashing a blast of dark enegey that smashed into Bill, knocking the demon back. "Well done!" Tenebris called. Bill looked at his reflection , and smiled.

"I've changed".

"Oh you think so?" Tenebris joked. "That's your Demon form kid. Well, your basic one anyway".

"Basic?" Bill asked. "I feel powerful in this one!".

"You'll feel even stronger in your other ones" Tenebris assured him. "Much more powerful".


	15. The Informant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seeking knowledge on the Council, Vickor and the Night Lights seek out a mysterious informant, as Bill makes a plan to rescue his father.

While Tenebris continued to train Bill, another mission was already underway. Tenebris had sent Pyronica, Kryptos, Vickor and Paci-Fire on a covert mission to meet with an informant, who had left a message on Vickor's private broadcasting channel, offering assistance. Still, they had been advised to move with caution. If the Council had caught wind of their operations, they would surely try everything to stop them, including staging a false informant.

"Taking the starship down from cloaking mode" Pyronica said.

"Good. Be ready for anything" Vickor said firmly.

"What did this guy say anyway that makes him so important?" Kryptos asked. "I mean, we have Bill now, right? What more do we need?".

"The informant claimed to have valuable information" Vickor said. "Information that can bring down the Corrumpere Council for good".

"In that case, all the more reason we find this guy" Paci-Fire grunted. "The Council will probably be after him too".

"Attention folks, this is your captain speaking" Pyronica droned jokingly. "We are landing now, so prepare to depart, and whatever else we get up to on the ground".

There was a sudden thud as the starship landed, and Pyronica left out first, followed closely by Vickor, then Paci-Fire, then Kryptos, who was still grumbling. Vickor held up his commicator, and looked around.

"We agreed to meet just up ahead. In alley twelve".

"Whoa whoa whoa, stop right there" Kryptos said. "You agreed to meet a stranger in a dark alley? That's messed up man".

"We are all armed, are we not?" Vickor said. "And there is clearly four of us".

"Here could be ten of them!" Kryptos argued.

"It not matter" Paci-Fire grunted. "Even if there is ten, I will make it zero".

"And we have Vickor's awesome powers!" Pyronica added. Vickor sighed. "I don't bother using them unless it's vital".

"Vital, you say?" A voice called out, causing the four to stop in their tracks. "I'll make it vital".

"Who's there?" Pyronica hissed. "Show yourself!".

Ahead of them, a man emerged, armed with a plasma blaster, and wearing black armour. "I am Captain Fearless" he spoke. "And you are surrounded". Vickor risked a quick glance around, and saw that the Protectors Leader was right. All around them, on top of nearby buildings, and crocking in dark corners, were black armoured Protectors. By now, Vickor knew the true title of this elite killers: Exterminator Guards.

"You know, when Circulus raised alarm about a group of aliens running around causing havoc, o did t want to believe it" Fearless said. "But now, I see its true! And not just any, but Pyronica, the freedom fighter of Varderis, and Paci-Fire! Butcher of the system of a million moons! And Vickor! I have heard the stories that surround you" Fearless looked at Kryptos, who was waiting expectantly for his turn.

"I don't know him" Fearless deadpanned.

"Oh come on!" Kryptos shouted. "Have you never heard of the fearsome Kryptos?"

"I haven't" Fearless said, unamused. "You obviously can't be that important". Before Kryptos could say anything, Fearless spoke again. "It's nice to meet you all, but my time is short. Exterminator Guards; execute them!".

The guards all raised the blaster and opened fire. Fearless watched, waiting for the bodies to drop, riddled with smoking holes. None did. In fact, not a single blast touched them. The blasts were being held, sizzling in mid air. Vickor had his hand raised, telekinetically holding the blasts. Fearless hissed. So the stories were true after all. With a flick of his wrist, Vickor sent the plasma blasts flying in all directions, knocking two Exterminator Guards from their rooftop posts, and sending others diving for cover as the shots whizzed over their helmets. Vickor wasted no time, and blasted Fearless back with a telekinetic shove, sending the Protector sprawling.

"Are you kidding me!" Fearless yelled. "Rigby! Kill them!".

Another Protector wearing black armour that Vickor could only assume was Rigby dived at him. Vickor effortlessly dodged each attempted bayonet strike from Rigby, before raising him into the air. As the Night Lights and Protectors watched, a devious smile broke across Vickor's usually calm and emotionless face. With a grin, he moved his wrists, and Rigby screamed as he was pulled apart, much to the sheer horror of Captain Fearless, who was now, against his namesake, very afraid.

"Whoa" Pyronica said in admiration. "And I thought I was messed up". Vickor turned back to look at his allies.

"What?" He asked, looking at their shocked faces. "Am I not allowed any fun?". He looked back to Fearless and the few surviving Protectors. "Now boys, you have a choice" Vickor said, pointing at each of them in turn. "You can stay, end up like your pal over there, you know, the one who's inside out, or you can scurry back to your ship, and not show your face around here, ever again". To solidify his point, he raised his hand, and the Protector corpses behind him rose up like they were on strings. "Your choice" he probed. Fearless said nothing, but cautiously backed away. The rest of the Protectors on the other hand, were already dashing the alleyway, unarmed and terrified. Seeing the battle was lost, Fearless ran too, but not before looking back a final time.

"This isn't over!" He shouted.

"Oh I'm sure it's not" Vickor said.

"Next time, it wound just be your pride I decimate!". Fearless looked astounded at having his threat rebuffed. Vickor just smiled. Then Fearless was gone, sprinting back to his ship to join the others.

"Well, that was terrifying" Paci-Fire grunted. "I didn't know you could that".

"Sometimes I suppose myself" Vickor said. "Now, let's find our informant, shall we?".

"Night Light's?" A voice called out from ahead.

"Uh, hi?" Pyronica called back. "You the guy we are supposed to meet?".

"Depends who's asking" the voice said again.

"Vickor is asking" Vickor said. Their was some shuffling, and a avatar came round the corner. His hair hung just below his ears, and his grey attire made him blend in with the wall behind him. But his blue eyes sparked with curiosity and worry, and these blue eyes fixed on Vickor now. "

"Vickor?" The avatar guessed.

"Yes. Are you the informant?" Vickor asked.

"Wouldn't it be funny if he just said no" Kryptos whispered to Pyronica

"I wouldn't say I'm a good once since the Council found me, but yeah. I guess" the avatar said.

"Do you have a name?" Vickor asked.

"My names Will Cipher" the informant said. "I and hear you know where to find my brother".

Bill Cipher begrudgingly trudged to the entice to the Night Light's underground base. Tenebris had called him here, and he had no idea why. Frankly, he was annoyed that he was being called to action this late. He liked to relax and rest at this time, not wait in a cold underground bunker for Vickor to return with some informant. Tenebris stood silently next to him as the starship was lowered down to the hangar from its landing zone on the surface, and watched as its hatch swung open. Vickor strode out, walking up to Tenebris and dropping to a bow.

"Did you get him?" Tenebris asked.

"Of course" Vickor said. "I don't fail". He gestured to the ship, as Pyronica, Kryptos and Paci-Fire led a figure down it. The figure looked around, until his blue eyes fixed on Bill.

"Brother!" The figure called. Bill blinked. While he looked different, there was no mistaking those eyes.

"Will?". But Will was already running, and jumped as his brother, embraced him as Bill responding with a hug of his own.

"I've missed you" Will said, as Bill let go. "Really? an underground resistance? After sneaking off to that protest? honestly, this seems like the new norm for you".

"It's anything but normal" Bill said. "So, like me, I suppose".

"Hey, don't be like that" Will said putting his hand reassuringly on Bill's shoulder. "You're my brother. And no matter how much all of this scares me, you are normal. If this is you, than embrace it as normal".

"Yeah, that's kinda hard" Bill admitted. "What have you been up to?" Will asked. Bill smiled.

"Let me show you". He let his powers fuel him, and his avatar dropped, reading his glowing red Demon form.

"Whoa" Will stepped back. "How the hell did you achieve that?"

"Training" Bill replied. "Painful training".

"That's the only worthwhile kind" Tenebris interjected, walking over as Bill returned to his avatar form. "My apologies Ciphers. I wish this reunion was on better terms. But you have information Will. Information that we need".

"Right" Will said. "You want the stuff on the Council, eight?".

"That and the information on Wade" Tenebris said.

"Wait, dad?" Bill said. "What does dad have to do with this?".

"A lot, actually" Will said. "I snuck into the Council Palace, see. I followed father around, and I learned a lot". Bill could feel a cold feeling creeping up his back.

"What's he done?".

"What hasn't he done, Bill. The Council have a new source of power. They called it weirdness , and whatever it is, it comes from somewhere beyond our dimension. But it's in Dream Demons. The Council have been harvesting them Bill. And Dads he,led them. He's caused the deaths of all our friends!".

"Slow down, you don't know that for sure" Tenebris said.

"I do" Will cut in. "It all adds up now, doesn't it? The fiasco back home, moving us here just so we wouldn't see his bosses purging our people, the protest shooting and why there were no bodies to be found, all of it!".

"Bill, what's your thoughts on this?" Tenebris asked.

"I..don't know" Bill said. "Wills right about everything back home. I don't know if my fathers evil, or just mad. But he can't stay there right? We have to get him out, away from the Council before he gives them anymore information".

"That's suicide" Keyhole said. "We can't just waltz up to the palace and do some prison breakout! We will all be killed on the spot!".

"We are dead on the spot if anyone from the Council sees us anyway" Hectorgon reminded him.

"We can do it" Vickor said. "Yes, I know it's very risky. But this could be our catalyst. This could inspire open rebellion against the Council when we free Wade and expose them for what they are!". He looked at Bill. "That is, if you're ready to do this".

"Im more than ready" Bill said.

"Bill" Will said. "I've seen him. Look, if you find him, you may not like what you find".

"I know" Bill said. "But he can't stay there. We need our dad back".

"Then its settled" Tenebris said, slamming his sword against the ground, attracting the attention of all the Night Lights. "Tomorrow, is Operation: Reclamation. Tomorrow Wade Cipher comes home".


	16. The Fated Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill Cipher, Tenebris and the Night Lights mount a dangerous mission to liberate Wade Cipher from the Council.

To say that Bill was struggling to sleep was an understatement. While it was true Demons didn't need to sleep, it wasn't like they didn't need to rest. Bill lay awake, unable to rest to regain the much needed energy for tomorrow. Everything and everyone rested on his performance. If he was the all-seeing eye, he had to prove it. Not just to Tenebris, not just to the Night Lights, but to all of Eadem. Eventually, he found himself drifting into a slumber. But then he was awake. His avatar was gone. And he was outside, miles away from the Night Light Base. Bill looked around in a panic.

"Tenebris?" He called. "Will? Vickor? Gorgon?" He spun around. "Anyone?".

"Bill". Bill turned to see Wade standing in front of him, a pained expression on his face.

"Dad?".

"Help us" was all Wade could say, as a blade as dark as night was shoved through his chest, and his limp form was thrown aside. A creature, humanoid and all black, with no other distinguishing features stood with blood dripping from blades where hands should be. Bill wanted to scream out, but couldn't. Someone else then attacked the creature from behind. Bill watched as Tenebris slashed at the creature, only for his attack to do nothing, and for the monster to cut him down was well. Bill watched, rooted to the spot and staring in horror, as the creature turned away from the corpses and to Bill.

"You couldn't save them" it rasped in a voice Bill recognised. "I killed them. I killed them both. And there is nothing you can do". Bill tried to yell out, to scream, but he could do nothing. No sound emerged. "Do you know who else I killed?" The creature asked coyly. "Who else I murdered?" It asked again, the broken skulls cracking under its feet as it walked. It then stood still as two chunks of stone rose out of the bone littered ground. Gravestones. Bill felt himself being moved closer, unable to close his eye as he read the names. Will Cipher and Claire Cipher. Finally, he could speak.

"No" he choked. "No, no, no".

"Yes" the creature hissed. "It was all me, but it was you too. You never stopped me. You killed them all!".

"NO!" Bill screamed, and sprung up. He was back in his room, back in the base, and back in his avatar form. A nightmare. Could Dream Demons even get dreams? Let alone nightmares? Bill got up groggy. That would sure put him off sleeping for a while. He got up and wondered out of his room. He needed air. After traipsing up the long windy stairs to the surface, still shaken from his nightmare, he was finally greeted by the confronting starry night sky. As Bill looked at it, he saw he was not alone. So,some else was up here with him, watching the sky. Bill slowly approached them, and as he got closer, they turned.

"Bill?" Tenebris asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing" Bill retorted. But his words didn't come out as confident as he had hoped. More weary and shaken than anything. Tenebris noticed this.

"A nightmare?" He guessed.

"How did you know?" Bill asked. "Well, lets see. You're up and about at an ungodly time of night, looking absolutely terrified. That narrows the options down to a nightmare, or prehaps an angry dust cat". Bill laughed, and sat down next to Tenebris.

"I didn't know we got nightmares" he admitted.

"Oh everyone gets nightmares Bill" Tenebris reassured him. "It's only natural. Even for the all seeing eye".

"You keep saying that" Bill said. "Do you really-"

"Believe it?" Tenebris guessed. Bills look was all the notice he needed to know he was correct. "Of course it believe it. You achieved a Demon form today right? That's a sign. A sign of more to come". He sat back, and his purple eyes glanced to the sky. It was a crisp, cold and quiet night, with not a sound to disturb them. Bill looked up too, at the endless expanse of space, and the billions of stars that spread for billions of miles across the universe and beyond.

"I'm scared" Bill admitted. "This whole all seeing eye thing, it scares me".

"It's okay to be scared, Bill. You have so much on your shoulders. Fear is the most logical reaction you could have. You're not alone. I get scared too".

"You do?" Bill asked, amazed. "I've known you for like what, two weeks? You haven't shown fear at all! There's no way you're scared of anything!".

"It's true" Tenebris said. "You want to know what scares me?" Bill nodded. Tenebris smiled, and pointed a bony gloved finger up in the air.

"That".

"The sky?".

"No, not the sky. What's beyond it. Space. The endless expanse. It has so much mystery, so much that is unknown within it, and honestly it terrifies me". Bill looked up at the sky.

"If it scares you, why are you out here staring at it?".

"I want to understand my fear. Maybe then, I won't be so afraid anymore" Tenebris said. "Besides, from down here, the night sky really is beautiful".

"Yeah" Bill agreed. "It really is". He then had a thought, and smiled deviously. "You know what I think you're scared of?" He asked Tenebris. "

"What?" "Dust cats" Bill said, pulling a face.

"Oh, very funny" Tenebris said with a smile. "No, I'm not scared of Dust Cats".

"Oh that's good" Bill said. "Because Pyronica wants one in the base, so-"

"She's not getting a Dust Cat" Tenebris deadpanned.

"Why?" Bill asked. "Is it because you're scared of them?". Tenebris met Bill's mocking look with one of contentment.

"Well, okay. Maybe I don't like them. So what?".

"You are!" Bill laughed. "You're afraid of Dust Cats!". Tenebris laughed.

"In your dreams, Cipher". Bill smiled, and stood up.

"I should get back. Try to rest more. Big day tomorrow".

"Yeah, okay" Tenebris said. "Goodnight Bill".

Bill smiled, and started to walk back to the stairs, humming to himself a little song his father had taught him. The sound caught on Tenebris' ears, and bought back memories of his own. The being watched Bill leave, before returning to stargazing, and his hand snaked into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small compact pocket watch. Tenebris flicked it open, and the stars above danced on the faces imprinted on its lid. Tenebris' purple eyes glinted with a determined fire, as he snapped the watch shut. The next morning, Bill Cipher felt rejuvenated, and stood next to his brother as all the Night Lights gathered in the main hanger. Three Starships stood ready to transport them, on their mission, the most dangerous one the Night Lights had ever undertaken. Tenebris stood by a desk, going over plans with Vickor. "

"You'll call mother right?" Bill asked Will.

"Why don't you?" Will asked. Bill looked away, slightly embarrassed. "I'm not sure she'll want to see me. I mean, I ran off didn't I?"

"Oh come on, Bill. You're looking for reasons for her to be angry with you. She won't be" Will tried to assure him. Bill still looked guilty. "Well I'm staying here anyway" Will said. "So, I suppose I can call her for you, if you're not ready to yet" Will said.

"You're staying?" Bill asked.

"Brother, I'm useless" Will said. "Until I'm trained to at least use a Plasma Blaster, I can't do anything more than die".

"Good point" Bill said, running his hand hand nervously through his hair.

"Night Lights!" Bill jumped, hearing Tenebris' commanding call. "Time to head out!"

"Good luck" Will said, hugging his brother. "Bring dad home". Bill nodded. "I will. I promise".

Within hours, the starships were skimming the dark storm clouds that surrounded the Council Palace, obscuring its massive looming shape from view. Few had seen the Palace from the air, but those who did said it was more fortress than palace. Bill could finally say those descriptions were correct. Things he had never noticed before from the ground and and from edited pictures now were clear. Massive cannons jutted out from serrated towers, that curved high into the stormy sky. Landing pads sat on multiple levels, and the largest starship Bill had ever seen was docked at one. "The Protectors ship" Gorgon pointed out from his seat at the front.

"That's what they came to Eadem in".

"It's huge" Bill said. "How many of them are there".

"Enough of them to kill us" Hectorgon scoffed. "More than enough".

"Now now, Hectorgon" Vickor interjected. "That's not moral boosting language".

"It's logical language" Hectorgon retorted.

"Hey boss?" Gorgon called suddenly. "You're going to want to take a look at this". He pointed at the adjacent window, and Tenebrious looked out it. Bill did too.

"By the light" Tenebris marvelled. "Those madmen came through".

Bill could now see that the three Night Light starships were not the only ones in the sky. At least a dozen others, of all different shapes and sized curved elegantly through the clouds.

"What are they?" Bill asked.

"The last of the resistance fighters" Tenebris said. "There's probably only one passenger per ship".

"We gotta hope that's enough" Gorgon said.

"It will be" Tenebris said. The starship suddenly jerked. Two sleek starships whizzed past, and circled back round to attack again.

"The parades here lads!" Gorgon yelled. "Let's put on a show!" He brought the starship into a nosedive, and fired the rear cannons, knocking one of the ships from the air. He pulled up, bringing the ship onto the last stretch towards the Palace. More Council fighters engaged the resistance fighters in the sky, Gorgon's ship going unknown through the aerial carnage. Below them, one of the outer walls exploded.

"That's Pyronica's distraction" Tenebris said. "Lets make the most of it".

"Lads!" Gorgon called. "We are landing!".

The ship thudded to a stop, and its passengers dived out, Tenebris leading the charge. They were in some sort of artificial garden in the palace grounds, and now Tenebris smashed right through the nearest window, startling two scientists that he cut down without hesitation. Protectors and Exterminator Guards has noticed them. The balata of plasma were stopped in mid air by Vickor, who seemed to enjoy the chaos dar too much, all but laughing as he brutally tore through the guards; literally.

"Find your dad, kid!" He called, and long claws extended from Gorgons's gloves ans he lunged at their attackers.

"Go! I'll cover you!" Tenebris yelled, and he led Bill towards a large stairwell, deflecting blows with his sword. "Up there, along the corridor. Should be his office" Tenebris said hastily, deflect more blasts, and sending a surge of dark power at an Exterminator Guard, which completely disintegrated them. "Maybe use your Demon form" he advised. "It would help". Bill nodded.

"I'll try". Tenebris looked like he wanted to say something, but didn't, instead turning his attention to the onslaught of Protectors combing their way. His purple eyes lit with a fearsome fire, and his jaw opened to reveal long fangs. Dark power coursed through Tenebris' body, and he dived down into the fray, blasts of purple, red and black flying through the battle. Bill could feel the heat and power of the blasts behind him as he stormed up the stairs. One Guard stood at the top of the stairs, and raised his blaster to fire, but Bill dived forwards, feeling his demon powers surging stronger than ever. He grabbed the Guard and flung him from the stairs, and sent him screaming to his demise on the hard ground below. Unlike his previous killings, Bill had no regret. He had some to save his father. He had already lost Tammy. He couldn't lose another. The corridor of offices was eerily auite. The shouting and blasts of the battle below and around the Palace seemed fated and far away, like some dull memory of a long since forgotten war. Bill jogged past hundreds of small office rooms, reading all the names, hoping to find Wade's, however one name made him stop in his tracks. Bill checked and read it again. Amoreon. Against his gut, Bill pushed the door open, and went inside. Will had told him how Amoreon has helped him. Maybe she could help him, too. But Bill's forlorn hope was quashed. The room was empty. Nothing occupied it now but a cleared desk. Bill looked around, but it was as if the Councillor never existed. Where was she? With nothing more to be done in the room, Bill went back into the hallway, and started picking up the pace towards the last few doors. Finally, he reached one with another familiar name, the very one he'd been looking for. Engraved on the door in what looked to be a sloppy haste, was the name Wade Cipher. Bill went to open the door, but his hand paused suddenly over the handle. He could hear voices inside. Wether or not any belonged to his father he could not tell, but if Wade was inside, he was t alone. To make matters more complicated, the door was clearly locked. Bill stood back, and tapped into his demon energy, before lunging at the door, which shattered into splinters as he struck it, startling all inside. Bill wasted no time in his split second scan of the room. Yes, his father was here. Wade was sat at a desk, a look of shock on his deathly pale face.

Their were Exterminator Guards ether side of him, and next to him stood the Councillor Radius. Radius went to speak as Bill dived forwards, delivering a strong kick to the Councillor that sent him flying across the room into a set of shelves, knocking down vases and braziers as Radius slumped unconscious at the base of a cabinet, as the shelves crashed down around him. Both Exterminator Guards reacted, and raised the weapons, but they had still been fazed by he speed Bill had acted, and they couldn't keep up. Bill had already sprung at them, jumping up and bringing down his extended blades onto one, before flinging a newly created dagger into the other, which lodged in the guards shoulder. The Exterminator Guard dropped his weapon in yelling alarm, and Bill strode swiftly up to him, before driving a second dagger into the Guard's jugular, bringing him down to the ground, shivering until he went eerily still. Bill willed his daggers to disappear, and they did, with the same speed as he had willed them. To be created mere seconds ago. The blades returned to his arms, and he returned to normal, surveying the mess he had made. Two Exterminator Guards, both dead, and Councillor Radius, lying unconscious in the corner. For a moment, Bill was tempted to create another dagger, and put an end to the Councillor, but relented as soon as his gaze fell upon his shocked and terrified father.

"Bill?" Wade said. "Is that really you?".

"Dad!" Bill embraced his father, but quickly let go, stepping back. He shouldn't have done that. His father didn't deserve that greeting. As far as he had seen from that night the Demons were shipped away, Wade was still a traitor. And from what Will had told him, their dear old dad was even worse than Bill could have ever believed. Wade looked down at the bodies.

"You killed them" he said simply.

"That doesn't matter" Bill said harshly. "They're the bad guys. It's their job to die. Come on. We're here to get you out".

"We?" Wade said, clearly confused. "Who's we?".

"The Night Lights" Bill said, and at that name, Wade's eyes widened. "Oh, and the last chunk of the Dream Resistance".

j"The resistance?" Wade marvelled. "It's still around?".

"Barely" Bill said. "We risked at lot to find you. You're coming home, dad". Bill suddenly stopped talking. Wade had tears in his eyes, and more steadily streaming down his face.

"Dad?" Bill asked. "What's wrong?".

"I.." Wade began. "I'm so sorry, my son" he sat back on his chair. "I've failed you. I don't deserve to be saved".

"What?" Bill said. "What do you mean?". Wade steadily stood up, and Bill saw how thin and frail his father looked. So tired. So worn. So weak.

"I'm a monster" Wade said. "A monster that the Council used, and knew how to use. I played their game, idolised their way of life, and lost everything because of it". Slowly, Bill was feeling more and more cold, like his very essence was flowing backwards. Like his mind was freezing over, and his hands were shaking again.

"Dad" Bill said. Wade didn't respond. "Dad!" Bill shouted. Wade flinched, automatically his hands moved to protect his chest. Looking at Bill, he adjusted himself, and his gaze fell upon Bill. "What did you do?" Bill asked. Still, no reply. "Dad! What did you do!" Bill yelled. "Tell me!".

"You deserve the truth" Wade said at last. "You deserve it more than anyone. But if I tell you, you'll hate me".

"Just tell me" Bill insisted. "We can work out the family dynamic once we get home". Wade sighed.

"Very well" he said. "Decades ago, I first met Circulus. Back then, I was a young Dream Demon. Young and foolish. I paraded my ideals of equality and power too openly, and it caught his attention. I suppose Circulus must have been amused by my antics. Normally, people like we would just disappear. But me? I lived. And not only did I live, but I earned the favour of Eadem's most powerful being. Circulus took me under his wing, introduced me to his Council. I was amazed. How could one get so much? I thought. how does one get that great? I was blinded. Blinded by his cunning and well crafted lies, and by my own self interest and doubts. I wanted to make Eadem better, just like you, son. I wanted to fix this place. Circulus prayed on that, and over time, though I didn't notice it, I became his little lackey. Eventually, we parted ways. I moved on. Got married. I wanted a family. But that's when Circulus came back. He had changed towards me. He was colder. More arrogant . More violent. The crimes and disorder in the Dream Demon settlements were getting worse. Your mothers parents were killed in a bombing. I became a secret rebel. Even Claire didn't know. I did if for her. To avenge her parents. But Circulus saw through my ruse. He knew what I was doing, and told me the truth: it would never work, as it never has, and it would only cost me Claire's life, and my own. But he gave me a choice. He offered me what no Dream Demon ever had: safety and security. He'd give me, my wife, and any children I chose to have Avatars. We could live normally, without the fear of hate crimes or oppression. But I should of known. Circulus was a deal maker to the core, and wanted something in return".

"What did he want?" Bill asked, fixed on his father as he told his story.

"He wanted locations" Wade said, guilt ripping into his expression. "Locations of the resistance I had served with such loyalty for years. He wanted me to tell him where all the bases and outposts could be found. He threshed to kill me, and your mother. He promised me if I agreed, we'd be safe. And like a fool, I agreed. Sold out my allies, my friends. And then they all died. The Dream Resistance became a memory. I never told Claire. When we got our Avatars in the weeks that followed, Circulus gave her a different story. One that didn't even hint to my ultimate betrayal. Then we had you and your brother. I thought I could be happy again. But once you've served the Council once, you can never be free". Bill was barley listening to the last part.

"It was you!" He erupted, causing Wade to fall silent. "You are the reason all those people are dead? Just to get what you want!?".

"I was a fool!" Wade pleaded. "I never wanted to serve Circulus again!".

"Then how did you get here?" Bill seethed, boiling with rage at his father. "To your bosses personal abode?".

"That's the rest of the story" Wade said glumly. "The final chapter of my foolish complacency. I wanted to be done with it, really I did. I wanted to live my life, give you and Will the best chances life can give. But Circulus called out to me again. He said he'd found the key. The way to save Eadem, and turn it fully into Paradise. He called it The Source, powered by Weirdness, and wanted my help. I refused. But then he gave his counter offer. He would kill my family if I refused. The one thing he'd let me have, just so he could threaten to take it from me. I was weak. I confessed locations of Dream Demon villages across Eadem. Then these Protectors arrived, drawn to Eadem by Circulus' offer to share The Source and its potential, and swept up the Dream Demons in their hundreds, torching villages and any who stood in my way. All that death. All those camps and prisons. It's all my fault. And now, Circulus is mastering The Source. He has everything he needs. But he still lacks the vision of it. That's the only reason I'm still alive. When Will came here, I attacked Circulus. I tried to stop it. I-"

"Tammy" Bill hissed coldly.

"What?". "YOU KILLED TAMMY!" Bill roared, and unleashed a bolt of demon energy, which blasted Wade back, sending him flying back into his desk, which broke into pieces. Bill stepped forwards, his mind choked with rage, readying another blast.

"I know I failed you" Wade pleaded. "I know I failed my family!".

"You didn't just fail us!" Bill yelled. "You failed your people! Their are people down there, risking their lives to get you out, only to find its you who is the very source of their struggle!?".

"Bill-"

"YOU FAILED ALL OF US!" Bill screamed. "I HATE YOU!". Wade hung his head in defeat.

"I know" he said. "I know". He waited, expecting his son to either leave, or just recommence his attack, but nothing happened. When he looked up, he saw Bill standing over him, waiting.

"Come on" Bill said harshly. "We are still getting you out, but only so you can spend the rest of your miserable life behind bars, on our terms".

"I deserve to die" Wade said quietly.

"Oh I agree" Bill spat. "But lucky for you, dad, it's not up to me. It's up to Tenebris". "

"Tenebris?" Wade said. "What has he got to do with this?"

. "He's the one who's helping me!" Bill yelled. "He's been more of a father than you ever where!". Wade sat on the ground in silence, until he finally moved, standing up and reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small circular silver disk.

"Look, I know you won't accept anything from me, but this isn't mine. This was made by Amoreon, and I was given it for safe keeping. She made it after Will escaped, so I was the next best option I suppose. I don't know what it is, but she said it's extremely important this is seen by you and only you".

Reluctantly, Bill took the disk, and slid it hastily down into his pocket.

"Right. You done?" He asked.

"With what?".

"Acting like I'm going to forgive you" Bill said coldly.

"You're not going to forgive me, are you?" Wade asked

"No I'm not" Bill hissed. "I'll never forgive you. And that is final. You're lucky I don't kill you". Wade fell silent again.

"We should go" he said. Bill nodded in silent agreement, and grabbed his frail father by the arm, pulling him along, back down the hallway, and the two Cipher's then made their way down the stairs as fast as they could, as the battle still raged below. Bill zoomed in his eye to see Tenebris, a purple blur of raw primal power, tearing through enemy lines. Behind him, Vickor was displaying his own fearsome powers.

"They are powerful beings" Wade said.

"Yeah, and I'm like them" Bill said coldly. "Not like you". Bill then stormed down the stairs, jumping from the last few and landing in the midst of combat. Instantly, he flung a newly created dagger right at the nearest Protector, who was fighting Keyhole. Keyhole looked at the body now at his feet, then up to Bill.

"You got your dad kid?" Keyhole asked, smiling madly. Bill didn't smile, but gruffly pointed to the base of the stairs, where Wade Cipher now stood.

"Tenebris!" Keyhole yelled. "We got Wade!". Tenebris materialised next to Keyhole, making him jump.

"Excellent work Bill" he said, ignoring Keyhole and Bill's shocked expressions.

"What?".

"I didn't know your could freaking teleport!" Keyhole said. "Why didn't you tell us?".

"I probably did yell you" Tenebris said. "Wether or not you were drunk off your mind while I was telling you is a different story entirely". Keyhole shot Tenebris an irritated look, but the man ignored it. "There is a ship outside. Get your father onto that, and we are getting out of here" he said to Bill.

"Will do" Bill said. "Dad! This way!". Wade obeyed his son's orders, and rushed towards him, dodging the violent flurries of plasma blasts streaking through the air. Bill could see the starship parked in the centre of Circulus' garden, which had now been lit on fire, with most its once beautiful exotic plants reduced to charred sticks.

"Just a little further!" Bill yelled. At last, father and son reached the landing ramp of the starship. Protectors descended upon them, and Bill fought them back. To his shock, he launched a fireball from his hands, which struck a Protector, setting them alight. His stress and anger was contributing to abilities he didn't even know he had. Bill launched another fireball, and turned to Wade.

"Get on the ship" Bill said bluntly.

"Stop them!" Captain Fearless shouted. "Stop the-"

a sudden blast from Tenebris sent him flying into one of the gardens ponds.

"Night Lights!" Tenebris yelled. "To the ships!"

"You heard him!" Plume yelled.

"The ships! Board the ships!" Torok roared.

"Dad!" Bill shouted. "On the ship. Now!".

"Bill-" Wade began.

"Don't talk to me!" Bill yelled. "Once you're on the ship, don't even look at me! I don't want to see you ever again!". Wade gazed at his son sadly.

"I'm sorry Bill. Truly". Wade didn't wait for a reply. Wiping his tears on his sleeve, he bolted up into the ship. Bill turned to the ramp, preparing to join Wade.

"Tenebris!" He shouted "is everyone aboard the other ships?".

"Almost!" Tenebris said "Get going with Wade! We will catch up!" Bill nodded, and turned to board the starship, but suddenly, something felt very, very wrong. The air went cold, and for a split second all was silent. Then, a sudden blast of light and a wave of heat struck Bill as the starship exploded from the inside out, sending debris and smoke in all directions. Bill crashed to the floor, and Tenebris yelled out. But Bill couldn't hear him. There was a ringing in his ears, and his eye streamed in the smoke, but none of that was even remotely noticed by Bill. His gaze was staring, unwavering, at the fiery wreckage of the starship: the starship that he had sent his father aboard. Wade Cipher was dead. And it was all his fault.


	17. A Broken Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill must face the aftermath of his loss.

Bill couldn't feel. Despite the wreck that was ablaze around him, he felt none of it. Tenebris' calls were distant. All Bill could feel was rage. Boiling, unrelenting rage. Rage like had never felt it before. Because this was more than rage. It was pain. Pain, and loss and anguish. And those forces were the most powerful of all. Bill stood up, not even caring he was standing in fire. His avatar dropped, and then all hell broke loose. Bill's former changed, his usual two dimensional form shifting violently into a three dimensional one. It turned blood red, and looked like a crimson pyramid, which split into three levels, with black tongues and teeth coiling from the gaps. Bill now had six arms, all alive with blades. Bill let out a guttural scream, and dived forwards, stabbing, slashing and burning everything in his way. Tenebris stood in a stunned silence. This was the Demon form at one of its most powerful states. This was proof, living proof, that Bill could achieve it. He was the all seeing eye. In a strange way, the bloody violence was almost mesmerising . But Tenebris knew better.

"Retreat!" He yelled. "Night Lights on the other ships! Now!". They didn't need telling twice. The Night Lights who weren't already aboard and waiting were now scrambling to the nearest ships. Grand Leader Circulus was watching the chaos from a balcony of the palace, standing with a dazed Radius. His expression was a mix of annoyance, and worry.

"No doubt about it Grand Leader" Radius said. "Wade's dead". Circulus nodded.

"It was inevitable. Allies are never allies forever. But still, to go out like that, unfortunate really".

"His son, Grand Leader" Radius pointed out.

"Oh yes, I can see him. The monster who is ripping our forces apart, and leaving a trail of blood and guts in his wake".

"Do you consider him a threat?" Radius asked.

Down below, Bill let out another yell, and sent a blast of pure energy right up at the Palace.

"Sire!" Radius yelled. "Get down!". The blast struck the tower, blasting Circulus and Radius back. Circulus stood up with a grunt, and dusted himself off.

"I want all cannons trained on that monster!" He roared. The cannons all fired, but none even damaged Bill Cipher. For he has become somthing beyond mortal comprehension. All the cannons had their blasts deflected, destroying every last one of them. Bill dove upon the screaming Protectors, grabbing one with two of his arms and pulling him in half. He brought a massive fist down on another, crushing them. It was now hard to distinguish what was Bill's red exoskeleton, and what was blood. But then Bill faltered. With a final cry, he fell forwards, and his form reverted back to his avatar, covered in blood. The battlefield went silent. Tenebris gave a command, and Vickor telekinetically levitated the unconscious Bill Cipher aboard their starship, before flying away. Circulus watched them go, before pulling Radius to his feet.

"Fearless?" Circulus contacted the captain of the Protectors. "Fearless are you there?"

"Barely" came a pained reply.

"Is anyone left out there?" Circulus asked.

"No sire" came Fearless' reply. "He's killed the lot. It's really bad down here. There's bodies everywhere".

"Come back to the palace" Circulus said. "We must discuss our next move".

"Um sir?" Malak approached nervously.

"What!?" Circulus shouted. "Can you not see I'm a little on edge!?".

"Apologies, sire, but we have a problem".

"That's a bloody understatement" Radius muttered.

"What problem?" Circulus hissed.

"My lord, the whole capital knows about the attack here tonight. It seems word has got out about The Source".

"Impossible. How?"

"It seems news got out via a frequency from this very building" Malak said. Circulus eyes narrowed. "Amoreon ".

"Wasn't she dealt with?" Radius asked.

"Clearly she had a contingency" Circulus said. "She never did stop causing trouble".

"That's not the worst of it sire" Malak said. "Tonight's events, coupled with the information exposure, has caused rebellion".

"Rebellion?"

"Yes sire. All over the city and beyond. People are rioting in the streets. It's chaos".

"You tell me this now instead of doing something about it?!" Circulus yelled. "What is the use of an advisor who doesn't obey my will!".

"Sire I was merely waiting for your orders!" Malak said. "Please, I have no military expertise!".

"Wade did" Radius said.

"Yes, well he's gone now" Malak said.

"Yes, he is" Circulus said. "Radius, gather the Council. We have much to discuss".

"What of the riots?" Malak asked.

"If they will not bow" Circulus mused "they will burn".

Bill awoke with a start, and immediately started coughing uncontrollably. "Dad!" He croaked. "Dad!" He stumbled forwards, trying to take notice of his surroundings. The ship had just landed. Maybe it was a dream?

"Bill" Tenebris approved Bill, looking concerned. "We've cleaned you up, but that's about all we could do. Your psychical wounds have completely healed. Your demonic powers are the only reason you're alive. And, about your father. I'm so sorry".

It wasn't a dream. Bill swayed on the spot, his whole world feeling like it was crashing down upon him.

"Are you going to be okay?" Tenebris asked. Bill started laughing. A painful, manic laughter.

"Okay? Okay?" He cried. "My dad is dead!" He screamed. "He's dead!" The ships landing ramp swung open, and the other Night Lights left the ship. Bill feel to his knees, holding his head in his hands. "What's mother and Will going to think?".

"You're mother has been informed" Tenebris said. "She knows. As for your brother-"

"Bill!" Will rushed up to his brother, and then stopped to catch his breath, before looking up at Bill and Tenebris. "Is it..Is it true?" Will asked. "Is dad gone?" Bill tried to speak, but couldn't. He couldn't even bring himself to look at his brothers saddened expression. Tears streaked down from his eye. All he could do, was nod.

**Six Hours Later**

Bill sat alone in his room, his hunt from any photos of his father yielding unsuccessful. Wade Cipher was dead and gone, and had left his son nothing but the now blood smeared disk that was now clutched in Bills hands. He didn't want to see it. Not yet. So he left his room, and walked across the hall to the room that Will had been given. Bill quietly slipped the disk under his brothers door with a hastily written note, and turned to leave. However, Bill wasn't looking where he was going, and for all his demonic abilities, couldn't sense Tenebris, whom he bumped straight into.

"Everything okay?" Tenebris asked.

"Yeah, yeah. Fine" Bill lied. "Well, as fine as it can be. What are you doing here?".

"Actually, I was looking for you" Tenebris admitted. "I'd like a word, if that's okay?".

"Fine by me" Bill said. "Shoot". Tenebris nodded.

"First off, your father. Once more, I'm so sorry. But the power you achieved out there, well is something only myth and legend has spoken of. In that moment, you tapped into a limitless wellspring of power, but at the time, were to delirious to have any control over it. You gained your true Demon form, one of the most powerful in existence. It is now solid fact that you are the all seeing eye. As such, that brings us to-"

"Training?" Bill interrupted. "That's what you were about to say, right?"

"Yep" Tenebris said. "You're getting good at-"

"Reading thoughts?" Bill guessed.

"No, I was going to say anticipation. You can't read hit thoughts yet. You are still tied to the psychical realm. When you can fully control the full extent of your power, you will be able to exist on a level beyond reality".

"And I can turn Eadem into perfection" Bill said. "Just like we said we were going to do. No Council, No rules, no restrictions. Home will finally be home".

"So training" Tenebris cut in. "You up to it?". Bill smiled.

"You bet". He then had an idea. "Race you to the bottom of the stairs?" He asked jokingly. Tenebris grinned.

"You're on Cipher".

Will Cipher had found the disk, and Bill's vague message scrawled on a note stuck to it. From what Will could gather, the disk was from their father, and Bill didn't want to look at it just yet. Will however, had no such doubts. If it was from Wade, it was important. Personally important. He had to see what it entailed. Luckily, Will had access to a hologram projector in his room, and the disk slid in with ease. Will sat back, and pressed play.

"Come on dad" he muttered "just give me something. A sign. A hopeful message. Anything". But the figure that flickered to life was not Wade Cipher. Instead, it was another avatar that Will recognised. A female, tall and tired looking, with her hair in a flayed mess, as if she'd been running. "Councillor Amoreon?" Will breathed.

"This is an urgent message" Amoreon's voice crackled. "A pre-recorded message to the Dream Resistance, and to Wade Cipher. I fear my time is short. Circulus knows about my deception. I am being hunted. There is no doubt that this will be my last recording. I studied the archives of the Council, which had been taken from the worthy holy men of our ages past, and stored away from public view. The all seeing eye is real. It exists, and it could very well mark the end of our world".

Will breath hitched. End of the world? But Tenebris had said Bill was the all seeing eye...

"The legend was incomplete" Amoreon continued. "The all seeing eye is a power that should never be harnessed by a mortal soul. It corrupts, destroys, and mentally breaks its user. At full strength, entire dimensions could be at risk. The Council tapped into an energy field from behind our world, accessing a primordial void between reality, and from it, have harvested an energy they called weirdness. It's dormant in all of us, and within Eadem itself. But the all seeing eye has more weirdness than any other being. This is where the power comes from, and it's powered by emotion. The years of mistreatment are the reason it's so strong in Dream Demons, because of the subconscious emotions of neglect and anger they feel. Circulus has harvested their essence to power The Source. He wants to use its power to place himself as a powerful being in the galaxy. But the all seeing eye: it must be stopped. Soon it will be string enough to break the chains of mortality, and become beyond what we can destroy. And if I am right, and this being is Bill Cipher, then we are all in great danger. You especially Wade. Get out, find your son and keep him close. Don't let anyone find him. The eye had a power. A dastardly dangerous power. The most dangerous one of all. Deals. The all seeing eye can grant wishes and desires of anyone it chooses. You cannot let Bill learn this power. You cannot let anyone get it. I.."

There was a sudden burst of static, and the holographic Amoroen turned around looking at a door swinging open behind her. "I'm out of time" she breathed. "But you are not. Find Bill. But if-" more static. "-gets to him first, then all is lost. Goodbye, and good luck. Amoreon out".

The hologram vanished, leaving Will in a dark room, with an ever darker feeling. One thing was for sure. Bill was dangerous and unstable the stronger he got. Will had already been told what had happened after Wade was killed. Bill lost control, and displayed new powers. His emotions had become his own worst enemy, and would only get worse. Will had to tell someone. Anyone. Then, a person came to mind. A person he could trust. Will rushed out of his room, to deliver the disk to Tenebris.


	18. Heed The Warning Of The Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious presence reaches out to Bill, and casts an ominous prediction of the future.

Seven weeks had passed since Tenebris had received the disk. He had promised Will that he would keep Bill under control, and did everything possible to easy the Dream Demon's mind. Bill had grown stronger. Far stronger. He could use fire at will, cause lighting storms, teleport, fly with ease, achieve most his Demon dorms at will, and had even tapped into his zenith form twice, the very same one he had used the night Wade died. So far, it was Bill's strongest form. Bill had been training well, and had floored every one of the Night Lights, except Vickor, who abstained from fighting Bill entirely. But Tenebris couldn't help but notice the effect all the power was having on Bill. Only a week ago, Bill had been laughing like a maniac as he slammed 8-Ball repeatedly into the ground, and had cracked many jokes, some quite dark, while abusing his other training partners in a variety of ways. In the medical facility, the Resistance Medic Obadiah had been working overtime to fix fractures, breakages and other injures some of the Night Lights obtained from training with Bill.

The Resistance itself now operated from the Night Light underground base, and had expanded over the course of the couple of months. Protector forces were stretched thin across Eadem, dealing with uprisings, riots, insurgency, rebellion, arson and other chaos caused by people who now knew the lies of the Council. And thanks to Paci-Fire recruiting a legion of Eye Bats, creatures from Eadem's moon that could shoot lasers from their single eye, the Night Lights had destroyed the Protectors long range communications, meaning that they couldn't call for support.

"Now I know there has been cause for recent excitement" Tenebris began, addressing the Night Lights and Resistance fighters now gathered in the meeting room. Bill and Will stood among the crowd, watching Tenebris step up onto a stage. "People have been saying now is the time to deliver our big blow to the Council. That after these harsh weeks of fighting, we have pulled the Council and their deceitful Protectors to the breaking point, and that now is the best chance we have to claim victory, to put peace over tyranny and mark the end of the reign of the Corrumpere Council". He paused for a moment, a smile slowly growing on his face. "And to that...I agree!" A cheer went up from the crowd, and Bill jumped up, laughing aloud. At last! "Now now, calm yourselves" Tenebris said, and the crowd quieted down. "We haven't won yet. But we have the advantage. We have the most powerful person in Eadem on our side. The all seeing eye, Bill Cipher!". The crowd cheered again, and Will patted his brother on the back, as Bill looked up at Tenebris and smiled. Tenebris nodded to him and smiled back.

"Circulus thinks he's fighting rebels. Let's show him that he isn't. Let's show him that he faces the people of Eadem and it's protectors!" The crowd was now cheering at such a pitch that even Tenebris couldn't quiet them. Instead he raised his voice over the din. "So prepare yourselves comrades! Before this week is out, the Council will fall!" Bill Cipher cheered along, ready to join the growing chant of 'down with the Council' when something stopped him. A voice, clear as day and as serene as water, spoke into his mind.

"Bill Cipher". Bill was confused, and looked around.

"Yellow?"

"Find me" the voice said. If defiantly didn't come from the crowd. It was coming from Bill's own mind.

"Who are you?" Bill asked aloud. No reply. Instead, he repeated the question in his head.

"Let your instinct guide you. Find me" the voice said. "Alone. I shall say no more".

"That doesn't answer my question" Bills argued, but he heard nothing more from the voice. He sighed, and went to turn away, until he felt a tugging sensation in his head. Something wanted him to walk down one of the base's side tunnels. The voice had said to let instinct guide him. But who was he to trust some strange voice he'd never met? But then again, Bill had been drawn to people he'd never met before. Vickor and then Tenebris. Perhaps it was fate after all. Against his better judgment, Bill snuck from the crowd heading for the side tunnel his instinct was telling him to head. By now, Bill had gotten used to the fact that the Night Light base was constructed in a massive sprawling cave system, and the developed base itself only took up a small part of the seemingly endless cave system, with some uncharted tunnels stretching for miles. Bill strode down one of these uncharted tunnels, a curling flame flickering in his hand, lighting his way like a torch. He passed scrawled cave paintings that were alive with scenes of war and conquest. One depicted a massive eye, its malevolent gaze burning down on a town consumed in painted fire. Bill thought little of them, his mind only occupied with finding the source of the voice. It wasn't normal to communicate telepathically. Vickor could do it, and so could Tenebris apparently, though Bill had never heard it. Bill himself had learned he could use telepathy, but only when he focused very hard on it.

As Bill went on, the tunnel widened out, and the cave paintings that were previously in abundance were now spread out, and their colours faded to a point of near invisibility. At last, Bill reached what appeared to be the end of the tunnel. To his surprise, there was another source of light ahead. Bill willed the flame in his hand to go out, and carefully approached the source of the light, at the entrance to a gigantic cavern. The source of the light was a pair of massive bronze braziers, each with massive orange flames, which cast a dim light around the cavern. The carven walls were also marked with cave paintings, but these glowed an eerie white, illuminating them against the dark rock.

But Bill's focus was not on these things. Nor was it on a pillar of gold and other treasures piled at the back of the carven, which glinted in the light from the crackling fire. Bills attention was on the creature that sat in the centre of the cavern, the creature that was now watching him intently. Eadem was home to a wide range of fantastical creatures, yet never had Bill Cipher seen one like this. He wasn't even sure what to focus on first. The creature was massive, easily the size of a Hover-Jet, and was covered in scales that shimmered like a mirage, reflecting the shine of the gold behind it. Massive legs as thick as tree trunks held up an even larger body, and folded to the creatures back were a pair of incredibly large wings. A long, coiling tail stretched out behind it, and flicked occasionally. But most extraordinary, was the beasts three heads, held up by firm scaly necks. Each looked slightly different. The middle head was the largest, with intense green eyes and rows of long white teeth. Smoke escaped its nose with every exhale of breath, and sudden sparks would follow. The head to the left looked angry, with red eyes, serrated teeth and a long dark scar over one eye. The head on the right studied Bill with what he could only assume to be curiosity. It's eyes was blue. But when they spoke, although all three mouths moved, and their voices sounded different, they spoke in a single voice.

"Welcome" they all spoke in unison

"Hi?" Bill said nervously.

"The one who brings light" the middle head said.

"The one that brings dark" rasped the left head.

"Why not both?" The right head inquired.

"What are you?" Bill asked, confused. "Why have you bought me here?"

"We didn't bring you here" the middle head said. "You came here of your own free will".

"We just asked" the right head said.

"As to what we are" the middle head began.

"We are-"

"A monster" the left head hissed.

"An observer" the right head said.

"The ancients worshipped us once" the middle head mused nostalgically. "They called us Ovargon, the Dragon Seer".

"Ovargon? Heh, never heard of you" Bill said.

"That is to be expected" the middle head said.

"The ones above have forgotten us" the right head said. "Forgotten all about us. Lost to their own desires, their meagre life goals. They have lost sight of what lies beyond. Blinded by ineptitude. How pitiful".

"Oh words of woe indeed" hissed the left head.

"It matters not" the middle head interjected. "We called out to you, Bill Cipher, because you are-"

"The all seeing eye?" Bill guessed. "Look pal, I know. Everyone has told me".

"Oh they have, have they?" The left head mused.

"What?" Bill asked.

"I sense a change in you" the left head pursued. "Your personality has changed. It's more aggressive now, more than it was".

"How would you know?"

"Oh believe me" the left head learned down, close to Bill, and breathed a whisp of smoke from its maw. "I know aggression".

"All seeing eye" The middle head said. "I congratulate you on your power".

"Be warned" the left head said. "Power can mean disaster".

"Your thoughts betray you" the right head said. "You think we have nothing worthwhile to say. That's arrogant, even for you".

"Right" Bill said. "Get out of my head, first. Second, if I'm here for a reason, I'd like to know it".

"The flames" the left head said.

"The final flames of fate" the middle head said.

"And the twins" the right head added. "Beware them".

"The heart of pine stands strongest" the middle head said. "The shooting star shines brightest".

"A deceiver" rasped the left head. "One even capable of deceiving you. Beware".

"Never flaunt power. Or you risk having those who fear it seek to usurp it" the middle head warned.

At that, the three dragons unleashed a blast of blue light from their three mouths. Bill jumped back as the ground was scorched it the shape of a circle. The outside of the circle was lined with symbols, none of which Bill recognised, but a familiar figure was placed in the centre.

"Is that me?" Bill asked cautiously.

"It is" the right head said. "Just not yet".

"What do you mean, not yet?" Bill asked.

"You seek to change the world, Bill Cipher. Soon, you face the full might of the Corrumpere Council. Maybe you will lose, maybe not. But the outcome, the worst outcome, is the one where this wheel comes into play".

"If you do not change these actions, then you will seal the fate of not just Eadem, not just this dimension, but others beyond it. The scars will run deep through reality. Scars that will never, ever heal".

"So what are you saying?" Bill asked. "That's I'm the bad one?".

"No" the right head said.

"Yes" said the left. The middle head remained silent.

"This is our warning" all three heads spoke. "Heed it, or ignore it. The choice is yours. But know that if the choice you make isn't the right one, your selfishness will corrupt you, and the multiverse".

"Enough!" Bill yelled out, and a light burst in front of him. Bill blinked furiously, trying to see clearly that through the haze now in the cavern. Ovargon, however, was nowhere to be seen. The dragon had gone, leaving Bill in an empty cave, with nothing but Ovargon's ominous parting words for company.


	19. The Beginning Of The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final arc of Bill's origin begins, as Night Lights and their allies finally commence the battle against Circulus.

Will sat nervously at the Night Light Underground Base, at a lost as to what to do. A battle approached, one that would decide the fate of Eadem. Will had given Tenebris Amoreon's disk weeks ago, but clearly he hadn't told Bill about it yet. But if today was the day of reckoning for the Council, the day where Bill would have to be strong, stronger than ever before, then he had to know, right? Will shuddered, his worries and insecurities kicking in again. It had been like this for ages. He would second guess himself, panic and worry about things. Bill was always the brave one, the one everyone remembered, the one everyone liked. But Will? He was just forgotten. Half the Night Lights and Resistance Fighters they had recently recruited just called him 'Bill Cipher's brother', as of that was all the mattered, as if that was all he was. Will had seen a steady and at times drastic change in Bills personality. The curious, childish antics were no more, replaced with resolve and determination. The adorable brother Will once had was gone. And Will could never decide what triggered these changes. The training? Their fathers loss? Or simply his powers themselves? Will shook his head. He would ask Bill, but later. For now, he had to tell his brother about what he had learned. He has been quiet about it for far too long, and since Tenebris clearly wasn't going to tell him, Will decided it was his job to do it. Filled with a fresh bout of determination , Will strode to his door, swung it open, and walked straight into..

. "Tenebris?" Will asked, stepping back. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there!"

"It's quite alright" Tenebris said, brushing down his overcoat. Upon seeing Will's expression, he spoke again. "What's the matter?"

"Matter? Oh it's nothing. Really".

"You want to tell Bill" Tenebris said. Will blinked. How did he get that?

"Well he needs to know doesn't he?" Will asked. Tenebris' expression hardened steadily.

"He will know. In time. But you must understand, Will. Some of these powers, as great as they sound, are very dangerous. If they fall into the wrong hands, it will spell doom for all of us".

"But they could help us" Will said, his voice lacking the conviction he hoped it would.

"I will tell him" Tenebris promised. "Eventually".

He turned on his heel and walked away, leaving Will standing alone in the doorway. Later, Will sat with his mother, back in his room, as she carefully flicked through pictures of their family. Will was relived beyond believe when Claire Cipher was brought to the base by Hectorgon. He was just as relived to learn she had the old family album with her.

"I'm scared" he admitted quietly, as Claire looked down at a picture of Wade mid laugh, and ran her hand over it. She looked at Will and gave a small smile, before pulling her son close.

"Who isn't?" She said. "This is new territory. Imagine what Wade would say. One day, we are living a normal life, the next, we are part of a war for freedom".

"Has Bill spoken to you?" Will asked. "he could use some help".

"Bills, been acting off lately" Claire said. "He doesn't seem to want to speak to me. After Wade, he's been, colder towards the idea of family. The idea of a loving happy family is almost alien to him now. He won't even open the album".

"Won't he see you?" Will asked. "I mean, we are literally about to go into a war zone, and he doesn't want to say goodbye? What if he doesn't-"

"He will make it" Claire interrupted. "He will. I know he will".

"We will be at last be free" Will said wistfully.

"I said something like that once" Claire mused. "Before the civil war. I was young at the time. It was just before the transformation of Eadem, from its two dimensional state to its three dimensional 'paradise' it is now. The war was fought, and the Council came out on top. Then, thanks to Circulus, we all lost our freedom". She looked at Will. "We must be careful. People go mad with power. The next leader of Eadem must not".

"Could Bill lead Eadem?" Will asked his mother.

"He could" Claire said, "but I don't think he would".

Grand Leader Circulus at at head seat, surrounded by his most loyal officers, and fellow Council members. The rebellions had grown more fierce. The uprisings more effective. The Council was loosing control. So, Ciruclus had called a council of war. Around the table, sat Radius, Oblong and Rounder, as well as Malak, Captain Fearless and Mistress Gala, Circulus' military general and personal tactician.

"Their strategies are intriguing" Gala said. "While our Protector forces have sustained heavy losses, the civilian populous seems undamaged".

"A weakness, of course" Radius pointed out. "They care about the people".

"You cannot blame them for having a soul" Gala said. "Their tactic is based on what seems morally correct, not what is strategically sound". She turned to Fearless.

"Captain, what is the status of your Protectors?"

"Lower than I'd like" Fearless huffed. "I've called upon more to come. We should expect them within the hour. We will surround the palace, and defend it. Nobody will get in".

"We can no longer keep the source here" Oblong said. "It's too dangerous".

"Agreed" Gala said. "We should move it into the country. That is, if you agree, Grand Leader?" She turned to Circulus, who sat silently, brooding.

"No, that won't be necessary" he said cooly.

"But sir" Oblong said. "They could come for it. It come be compromised".

"You miss the irony of it, Oblong" Circulus said. "They will come for it, yes, but the capital will be defended like a fortress. We will lure them in, and wipe them out entirely. Destroy them all in the skies above the capital for all to see. We will queasy the rebellious spirit and establish order"

"And then I'll get my payment?" Fearless reminded him.

"Yes. Whatever you desire will be yours, within reason" Circulus promised.

"Then we must prepare" Gala said. "If our enemies are coming, we must be ready to face them, head on". As the council of war dispersed, Circulus and Fearless stayed behind, staring out of the window at the sprawling capital city.

"I assume you have a back up plan?" Fearless asked.

"Indeed it do" Circulus said. "Use all the force you need, Fearless".

"And what of you?"

"Should they gain the upper hand, my cannons will fire on the city" Circulus said. "If they do not surrender, what they fight for will be exterminated".

"You would rule over ash" Fearless warned.

"Better to rule ash and rebuild than rule nothing at all" Circulus said. "After all is said and done, this all seeing eye business will be forgotten. People will worship me, and me alone".

Bill Cipher sat in the back of a Starship, a feeling that had become all to familiar. Will's voice cracked over the communicator from time to time, advising him from the mobile operations centre that was driving through the city streets, keeping tabs on everything that was going on. As it was already set up in the city, Will and his reconnaissance team had easily snuck to it, activated it, and began directing. The starship Bill was in was far from alone. Forty others joined it, with multiple Hover-Trucks full of Resistance Fighters on the ground. They had an army. But they all knew that the Council would have an army too. A big one. "You won't just seal the fate of Eadem" Ovargon's words rang in his mind. "Not just this Dimension, but others beyond it. Your selfishness will corrupt you, and the multiverse".

"Shut up" Bill said aloud.

"Sorry?" Gorgon asked, looking up.

"Oh, not you" Bill added quickly. "I was talking to myself". Gorgon shrugged.

"Fair enough". Bill looked over at Vickor, who sat muttering to himself in the corner.

"Hey, you okay?" Bill asked. Vickor's head snapped up inhumanly fast. "Fine" he said. "Just stressed, that's all".

"Tell me about it" Bill deadpanned. "I heard what you did when looking for my brother. I didn't know you could be so-"

"Brutal?" Vickor guessed, before giving a small laugh. "Look, I may play the part of the calm collected smart guy, which is the part Tenebris expects me to play, but the boiling feeling inside, the one that makes you feel powerful, sometimes takes over". He laughed again, looking down at the ground. "I've been around a long time. I've killed a hell of a lot of people. Some just to show off strength. To display my ability. We all have demons. Mine just come out in the form of destruction".

"But you control it, right?"

"Sometimes" Vickor said. "But not always". Suddenly, a determined voice broke out across the ship.

"Attention all Liberators" Tenerbris' voice crackled. "Prepare for battle". Bill smirked at the name Tenebris had given to their collective rebellion. Of all things, Liberators was a little in the face of a name. Bill was jolted from his thoughts as their starship landed.

"Everyone out!" Gorgon yelled. "Now! Move it people!"

"You heard the man!" Resistance Captain Gregor yelled, before looking quickly back at Gorgon's green form. "You're a guy, right?" Gorgon sighed.

"Yes. Now move".

Bill dived out, followed closely by Vickor. Already, laser fire was raining down on them. No sooner had the last Liberator left their starship, a sudden barrage of laser fire struck it, causing it to explode, sending molten debris into the air. In the sky, Protector ships zoomed around like flies, just as fast and just as duplicitous, while the outnumbered Resistance ships strafed and dived against them.

"Bill!" Tenebris called, running over with Pyronica just behind. "Glad to see you landed in one piece".

"Well, we landed in one piece" Bill said. "But we're certainly not in one piece now". Tenebris glanced past him and obsvered the flaming wreckage.

"Ah" he said. "I see".

"Anyway" Bill said. "You have a plan right?". "Yes. It's-"

"LOOK OUT!" Gorgon screamed. A missile crashed into the ground, sending them all flying back. Sudden yells and screams crashed through the air, as Protector forces descended upon them. Captain Gregor stood up, only to be shot, and to fall back down to the ground, where he lay unmoving.

"We need cover!" Pyronica yelled, as she fired a plasma blast that disintegrated the Protector Ricky.

"Find it!" Tenebris yelled back. "Scatter!" The Liberators responded, diving away as a massive cannon started rolling its way towards them. Radius sat inside, a devious smile burnt onto his face, itching to open fire and annihilate the pesky resistance for good. "We have to get into the palace" Tenebris said. "Find this weirdness source, and destroy it".

"Understood" Bill replied. "But how the hell are we going to get there?"

"Simple. Follow us" Vickor replied, and he levitated into the air, and dived forwards, swooping down like a predatory bird. Plasma blasts were fired, but none hit. Vickor raised his arms, and necks snapped. Tenebris lunged forth as well, surrounded by a dark aura, his eyes alive with fire, as he swung his blade effortlessly and in a blur, slashing, stabbing, bisecting and decapitating enemies before they could even react. One Protector shot at Bill, who raised his hand. A massive spear of rock impaled the protector, killing them instantly. Bill laughed, and followed Tenebris and Vickor's path of death and destruction, as the trio fought their way towards the palace doors. The more Bill fought, the stringer he felt. He jumped forwards, flying incredibly far, and landing with his blade extended, buried deep in a Protector's chest. Effortlessly, Bill flung the body away, and fought on. He spun round, and sent a flying volley of spontaneously created knives into an oncoming group of Protectors, dropping them all immediately with a collected cry. Bill looked back, and saw that the Liberators were pushing forwards too.

"Come on!" Gorgon yelled. "Together! As one!"

"As one!" The chant repeated. "As one!"

"As one?" Radius asked mockingly, hearing the cheer from within the cannons control seat. "No, as nothing!".

And with that, he opened fire.

"Scatter!" Gorgon yelled out, as the Cannon shot hit the ground at his feet, ripping the entire ground up in a blast of white. Gorgon's body, limp, lifeless and red with his own blood, was flung back to rest on the dusty ground. The Other Liberators responded to his last order, and fled the firepower of Radius' Cannon, as the Councillor grinned manically. From his room in the mobile command centre, Will Cipher flinched as his communication connection cut out.

"Something's wrong" he told Claire. "Something's very wrong.

"We're close!" Bill yelled out, as he, Vickor and Tenebris approached the gates. "Real close!". Vickor suddenly stopped, and turned back to the heavy drumming sound of the artillery cannons firing. Looking back, he saw them. Five of them. Firing mercilessly on the fleeing Liberators.

"I have to go back" Vickor said. "Or those cannons will end the resistance".

"But what if you lose control?" Bill asked. Vickor smiled, a glint in his eyes that made him terrifying.

"Oh I will" he said. "And they'll be wishing they never rolled those cannons out". Vickor waited for no reply, levitated into the air, and shot off like a bullet back towards the main battlefield.

"Come on Bill" Tenebris said heavily, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Vickor call hold them back. It's up to us now". Vickor smiled as he flew directly in front of Radius' Cannon.

"Ah, Vickor" Radius said. "Im surprised you bothered to show up".

"Some things are just that important" Vickor quipped.

"I'm sure they are" Radius hissed. "Ready to die?"

He activated his cannon, the blast firing at Vickor. Vickor blocked it, and sent it spiralling into the nearest other cannon, making it go up in an orange ball of flame. Protectors shot at Vickor from the ground, but Vickor was quicker. He dodged every shot, and snapped his fingers. Their was a second snapping sound, the sound of spines breaking in two. Enraged, Radius fired again, but again, his blast was knocked into another Cannon, destroying it. Vickor turned back, flashed Radius a smile, and affectionally flung a bloody corpse at Radius' window. Radius jumped back with a screech as the body splatter against the cannons windows, obscuring Radius' vision.

"Now Radius" Vickor's voice, as calm as ever, could be heard loud and clear. "What was it you said?". To Radius' utter shock, his Cannon started moving, charging up as the barrel turned. At the same time, other cannons were doing the same, telekinetically moved into place by Vickor. Now, the three remaining cannons were all aimed at each other, fully charged. Vickor finished Radius' own final threat with no amusement. "Ready to die?". He let the missiles fly.

Radius could do nothing but accept his fate as the missile struck his cannon, consuming it in a massive explosion, as the other two cannons suffered the same fate. Vickor was unfazed by the heat of the blast that singed his attire, and calmly lowered himself to the ground. The sudden turn of events seemed to have dented the morale of the Protectors , but skyrocketed the moral of the Liberators tenfold. Cheers went up as they charged forwards, weapons ready and primed, ripping into the shocked Protectors, who were still trying to come to terms with the sudden loss of all their heavy artillery cannons, as well as the demise of one of the Council.

Meanwhile, Bill and Tenebris fought on alone, any Protectors of Elite Palace Guard coming too close meeting swift and painful ends. Tenebris fought with a brutality Bill had never seen before. His strikes were swift, reckless and violent, severing anything that came to close. Bill was hardly being a pacifist himself, both hands clutching regenerating daggers, thrusting them violently into the chink of an Exterminator Guards armour, causing him to drop his weapon in a screaming alarm, which was silenced sickeningly by a blow to the throat. Bill wasted no time in pulling the blades out and driving them into another victim. Suddenly, Bill yelped as a shot from a Plasma Blaster struck his back, burning, singing, hurting. But to Bill's surprise, the injury felt distant, and slowly weakening. In seconds he felt nothing at all. His body was healing itself. Tenebris looked back, and smiled.

"You're stronger" he said proudly. "Treading the line between mortality and godhood" Bill smiled back.

"Let's end this" he said. "Once and Or all". The two warriors then dived for the open entrance, and within the minute, were sprinting through the clean halls of the Council Palace. Up ahead, a squad of Exterminator Guards had gathered, weapons primed and easy to attack.

"There they are!" one yelled. Bill sent a fireball spinning at the Guard who spoke, who fell, consumed in flames.

"And there you go!" Bill laughed, spinning in the air, and drawing his daggers, the Protector blood staining them and his clothes not fazing the demon in the slightest. Four Exterminator Guard surrounded Tenebris, who made a quick glance at each it turn as all four raised their weapons. Tenebris raised his hands, glowing with dark power as bright as his eyes glinted, and the four guards were raised into the air struggling. Tenebris clenched his fists, and the Exterminator Guards screamed out, drowned out by horrible cracking sounds, followed by an eerie silence. The bodies fell amongst their comrades at Tenebris' feet.

"We have to find the source" he panted. "Soon, before these fools overrun us".

"I can agree with that" Bill said. Tenebris looked up. "Two doors" he pointed out. "Ones the source, the other-"

"Leads to the Council" Bill finished. "I know. I can sense them".

"I'll find the source" Tenebris offered. "I know what you want to do. What you need to do. Bill nodded in agreement.

"You find the source. I'll find you when my work is done. But first, I'm going to avenge my father".


	20. A War Without Winners

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The war for Eadem reaches drastic proportions, as the truth is revealed, alongside a revelation that shocks Bill to the core.

Captain Fearless strode across the battlefield. The name he had given himself all those years ago rang hollow now. The cannons were gone, and Councillor Radius was dead. Fearless had passed bodies, lying in dying pain across the Palace grounds, as well as crashed ships, still ablaze, their pilots long gone. Ahead, was the enemy. The Liberators, as they had taken to calling themselves. Now, thy were causing just as much carnage and death as the Council. Fearless had always believed in the simple method of pummelling your enemy out of existence, wiping them out no matter the cost. He hadn't cared when they opened fire and killed all those protestors. He hadn't cared when he had the survivors of tat very attack captured, tortured and drained of their life force to power the source. He hadn't cared one bit. But now, Fearless was faced with his actions. With all their actions. And it terrified him. Now, he was no longer Captain Fearless. He was Draven Barn. And he was afraid.

Pyronica lunged at Fearless, eye alight with a determined intensity, as she flung two scimitars at the Protectors leader. Fearless ducked, and opened fire on Pyronica, who deflected the blast. Suddenly, Fearless was blasted back by a shot from Paci-Fire.

"Eye bats!" Paci-Fire called. "Rip him apart!" Fearless looked in shock as a cluster of the most bizarre creatures he had ever seen descended upon him, their eyes looking livd. In fact, all they were was an eye. And eye with the wings of a bat. Real creative naming there. Fearless shot down two of the bats, and left upon another as Paci-Fire repeated his kill order , and smashed the bat back into the ground. He was too out in the open here. He had to get away. And in a moment, he was Draven Barn again, running, fleeing, afraid. Fearless sprinted away as his few remaining Exterminator Guards engaged the Eye-Bat onslaught, and sought cover behind a downed ship. This was a war. And the Protectors were loosing.

Bill Cipher dashed down the Palace halls, approaching the familiar large golden doors: the entrance to the Council chamber. Two Exterminator Guards stood watch, alongside a quartet of Royal Council Guards. They all opened fire, but their attack barely fazed Bill. He sprung forward with demonic ferocity, literally ripping into his enemies. The two Exterminator Guards fell, deep slashes across their chests and necks, and Bill quickly made short work of the supposedly skilled Royal Guards, leaving their corpses in a bloody heap on the floor, staining the once pristine marble. Bill didn't even try to open the golden doors. He unleashed a sonic blast, sending the doors flying off their hinges and crashing into the chamber.

"Cipher" hissed Circulus, standing up from his throne. "You've made your last mistake".

"Funny" Bill retorted. "I was about to say the same thing to you".

"Surely you must see your force is doomed" Circulus said. "My Protectors-"

"Are dead" Bill said. "Surely you must see that, Grand Leader?".

"Silence!" Malak shouted from his spot at Circulus side. But the advisors voice lacked conviction. He was terrified.

"He's but a boy" Oblong huffed, and Rounder laughed.

"Yes. A weak, foolish boy". Bill looked around. Three Council members. Five seats.

"Where are they?" Bill demanded.

"Radius fights your rebellion" Circulus said.

"Where's Amoreon?" Bill asked, dreading the answer. Suddenly, Rounder lunged forwards, dagger in her hand. Bill reacted instantly, drawing a sword and slashing across Rounder, bisecting her. Bill then turned to Oblong.

"No!" Oblong pleaded, stumbling back. "Please!". Bill ignored him, and in one swift swing of his sword, Oblong fell alongside Rounder. Malak yelped out in shock, and ran from his masters side, attempting to escape. Bill noticed, and fashioned a dagger, before flinging it at the fleeing advisor. The dagger found its mark, and Malak's lifeless body hit the floor. Bill turned back to Circulus.

"You'll be next" Bill spat. Circulus said nothing, but his gaze inexplicably dropped to the two bodies on the floor. "Where is she?" Bill asked again. "Where is she?"

"Amoreon was expelled from the Council" Ciruclus said simply. "We discovered her betrayal by accessing our database, and we found out about an unauthorised avatar change. She helped a criminal escape, so she had to be punished".

"What did you do?" Bill asked, rage building up.

"She paid the price for treachery" Circulus said. "Amoreon was captured, and executed".

Bill yelled out in rage, and a sonic blast sent Cirlcus flying back into his throne, which smashed apart as his body careened into it. Groaning, Circulus crawled away from the rubble, and tried to stand. Bill coldly approached him.

"You killed her!" Bill yelled. Ciriclus said nothing. Bill hissed, and around him, all the glass in the chamber, windows, cups everything, shattered. Circulus ducked to avoid the broken remains of a chandelier as it fell to the ground. "It's over now" Bill said. "You have lost".

"The war is not over" Circulus rasped.

"I think it is" Bill retorted. "The cannons have stopped which can only mean they have been destroyed. And if Radius was out there, he's dead, just like the rest of the Council. You're the last one left". Bill expected a plea from the Grand Leader, a desperate bargain for help, but what he got he never could have expected. Circulus began to laugh, as he shakily stood up.

"The war is not over" he repeated. "Eadem will fall without me! It needs me to survive!".

"Survive?" Bill hissed. "All you've done is killed!".

"As have you" Circulus spat. "The Source will power our world for millennia to come, we will be a spacefaring race, all powerful and undying. We will be gods".

"Gods?" Bill repeated. "I am the all seeing eye. As of today, once I've killed you, I'll be the only God". Ciruclus' eyes widened as Bill drew a sword. "Consider this justice" Bill hissed. "For my father, Wade Cipher. The one you murdered!". Ciruclus' expression changed, to show confusion.

"Murdered? Wade?".

"Do you not even remember!?" Bill roared. Ciruclus flinched.

"No! It's not that. I never wanted Wade to die! It was not on my orders that he was killed!".

"What?" Bill stepped back, sword still raised. "Then who gave the Order?"

"I do not know. That's the truth. I promise" Circulus said. "I didn't want my most intelligent worker killed! It's because of your father we have come this far! And we are so, so close!"

"You think he's just a worker? Some extension of your pride?" Bill hissed, his eye glowing red. "You don't see his death as anything more than a loss of resources, do you?". Ciruclus hung his head.

"Wade was important to me".

"HE WAS IMPORTANT TO ME!" Bill roared. "HE WAS MY FATHER!".

"I know. And I'm sorry".

"Oh, you're sorry for him?" Bill said. "What about all the others you murdered?! The Night Lights, they found files. Old Tony, Doctor Ian, Orvou, Matrick, and Tammy-" Bill's voice choked. "They died because of you!".

"Night Lights" Ciruclus repeated the name. "You sided with them, eh?".

"Better than side with you". "Maybe" Ciruclus mused. "Maybe not".

Bill lowered his sword, staring, confused and conflicted, at Grand Leader Circulus, who lay injured at his feet. At his mercy. This was the moment. The moment Bill had dreamed, and dreaded. The source of all their pain and loss was finally posed for justice. Yet why did it feel so wrong? Bill didn't know what to expect. Maybe some final battle for control of The Source, where Circulus would monologue some evil plan, only for it to fail, and him to pay for the people he killed.

"I've lived a long time" Circulus said. "I placed myself into power. I've done it before. I'll do it again".

"Not if you're dead" Bill spat.

"We shall see" Circulus mused, and his raised his arm. Bill noticed too late, a wrist mounted communicator, activated. Circulus grinned. "Captain Fearless, commence full bombardment of the city. Wipe it out". Bill raised his sword to strike, but Circulus' voice, sick with confidence, spoke out. "Kill me, and there's no stopping it". Bill's held the sword, shaking, in his hands. Circulus smiled. "You know I'm right".

Outside, the massive warship that had brought the Protectors to Eadem hovered above the city, with Captain Fearless now safely aboard. "You heard the Grand Leader boys" he said. "On my command, fire!".

Down below, Vickor and the Liberators looked up as massive ventral cannons trained down on the battlefield. Protectors, still fighting on the ground, gazed up also, horror etched on every face, waiting for the inevitable blows to fall. But nothing happened. "Did you not hear me?" Fearless roared. "Fire!". But his gunners didn't respond. Instead, they moved away from their stations. "Fire!" Fearless yelled. "That is an order!".

"Yeah" one Protector said. "We know. But it's one we cannot follow. And you shouldn't either. That's our people down there. Ours, and others. Innocent people. If you wanted to commit genocide, you picked the wrong job, Captain".

"I-" Fearless began, but it made sense. There was no point in this charade. The battle was lost. He hung his head in defeat. "Very well. Recall our Protectors. Seize fire. The Grand Leader is on his own". Circulus was waiting, with growing anticipation to hear the bombardment begin. But he heard nothing. And as his communicator cut out and went silent, he came to the conclusion, with horrified realisation, that no bombardment would happen. The Protectors had lost too much. Killed too much. They would fight no more. And Circulus was not the only one who realised this. Bill Cipher, standing above him, eye glowing red, now held all the cards.

"It's over" Bill said simply.

"It's never over" Circulus replied. "Never".

"Do it" a voice, speaking into Bill's mind, coming from his mind itself, baring his own voice, spoke. "You know you want to. End this". Bill looked down at Circulus, defeated and alone beneath him.

"It's never over" Circulus repeated to himself. "It's never over". Bill could almost pity the wreck of a man he now controlled the future of. But sympathy? Bill had none of that.

"I'll find who killed my father" Bill told the Grand Leader. "They will die. But you? You've killed your way across my life, and I'm not having that. Goodbye, Grand Leader". Bill raised his sword.

"No. It's never over" Circulus repeated again. "Never".

Bill brought his sword down in a powerful strike, slashing a clean cut across the Soul Demon's body. Circulus let out a final breath, as his avatar disintegrated, revealing, just for a moment, his true Soul Demon form, before that too shattered into nothing. Grand Leader Circulus was dead. Bill Cipher willed the sword to dissipate. It did, and Bill looked on at the now empty broken throne. Bill raised his own communicator, but he didn't need it. He felt the room fold around him, felt a dizzy feeling, and appeared right next to an exhausted Tenebris.

"Tenebris?" Bill said In surprise. "How? You okay?"

"Teleportation" Tenebris said. "And I'm fine. I've put an end to the Exterminator Guards, and I've found the Source". He pointed go the massive floating, pulsing orb that hovered a metre above the ground in front of them. "What about you?" He asked. "Did you do it?"

"Yes" Bill said firmly. "Eadem call celebrate. Circulu is dead. The Council is no more". Tenebris smiled in relief.

"At last" he breathed. "The Shadow of tyranny is vanquished".

"What now?" Bill asked. "We destroy this thing, right?".

"It's complicated" Tenebris said. "While i seem immune to the effects of the Weirdness, the concentration present here would kill you if you made contact with it. It has to be me to destroy it".

"Okay" Bill said. "But how can I help? We need to do this together".

"You can help" Tenebris said. "I lack the strength to destroy The Source alone. But you, you're the all seeing eye. With you, I can do it".

"Okay. What must I do?" Tenebris sighed shakily. Bill had never seen him look this uncertain. "You have achieved many powers on a psychical level, but some of your greatest are the powers that can transcend reality itself. Powers beyond the mortal realm. One of these powers, is the granting of a wish, but only for something in return, a deal, if you will. You can cast deals".

"Deals?" Bill asked, confused. "How?". "First, let these words flow in your mind. Tell yourself, I wish to make a deal". Bill thought the words. I wish to make a deal. Suddenly, he jumped, as his left hand burst into a blue flame. But the flame didn't hurt him. He couldn't even feel it. Yet it was there, his hand ignited..

"Yes!" Tenebris insisted. "That's it. That's It!".

"What now?"

"Now comes the difficult part" Tenebris said. "Extend out your hand". Bill did as he said, holding out his flaming hand, the blue fire illuminating all the shadows on Tenerbris' face. "You must ask me for somthing" Tenebris said. "It's a deal, after all".

"Uh, okay. What about.." Bill thought. "I've got it! What about a look into your mind? That'll will work, right?". Tenebris thought for a moment, then smiled and gave a nod.

"I think it will. Now, and this is very important. After I've said my wish, you must say, 'It's a deal'. Got it?". Bill nodded.

"Got it".

"Okay" Tenebris said, and took a deep breath. "Let's do this. My name is Tenebris, and I wish for the power to save my people. In exchange, I will grant you a look into my mind, but only for a moment". It dawned on Bill that he still didn't know which of the three types of Demon Tenebris was.

"You mean Dream Demons?".

"Just say the words Cipher!" Tenebris yelled.

"Okay okay!" Bill said, he too taking a deep breath, and extending his hand. "It's a deal".

His voice echoed as Tenebris took his hand and shook it. Bill suddenly felt dizzy, and images flashed before his eyes. Tenebris, much younger, taking cover as a missile shot over his head. Then, he saw Tenebris training against cloaked figures, and cutting one down with a yell. Bill saw another memory: Tenebris standing over a massive cheering crowd, and then a final scene: Tenebris yelling out, his hand outreached to try and grasp a blinding light, letting out a scream, before a blast of white consumed the image. Bill was blasted back to reality, and Tenebris let go of his hand, falling to his knees with a grunt.

"Tenebris! You okay?" Bill asked, worried. Tenebris grinned as he slowly stood up, his eyes glowing.

"I've never been better" he said, his voice sounding different. More rasping. More demonic.

"The Source" Bill said, as Tenebris walked over to it. "Can you destroy it?". Tenebris looked at The Source, and the boundless energy within it. Without a word, he plunged his hand into it, and a blast of sudden energy knocked Bill back. Tenebris yelled out, as energy rushed around his body, causing his eyes to glow even more, and even darker shade of purple. The Source itself was no changing colour, going from a multicoloured unstable mess to a stabilised dark purple massive orb. Bill could see Tenebris' hand, still inside The Source, changing shape too. It was a jet black, and armed with long claws.

"At last" Tenebris rasped.

"Destroy it!" Bill yelled. "Come on!" The Source then broke apart, the orb vanishing, and the energy from The Source crashing down on itself. A loud cracking sound echiked round the room, as a split opened in the air where The Source once was, glowing a dark and violent red: a portal.

. "Tenebris?" Bill shouted out. What in the light is that?". But Tenebris said nothing. His hand now free and The Source gone, he began to laugh. As he did, his entire form started to change. His human body was an Avatar after all. And now, it was reverting back to what his true form. His skin turned the colour of charcoal, with almost reptilian scales. He seemed to grow taller, and more muscular. His teeth became knives, gleaming in his jaw. His eyes took on a more intense and hateful stare. His hands grew claws. Dark, crooked horns jutted from the top of his head, his hair growing longer. His avatar form vanished entirely, leaving a shadowy being in its place, one that would blend in with the night itself. A dark black smoke peeled out from around Tenebris, shrouding him in a cloak of darkness, which seemed to sweep across the whole room. And all the while, the portal The Source had transformed into was growing steadily larger, and sounds were echoing from the other side. Tenebris looked at his clawed hands.

"Ah" he mused. "That's better".

"Tenebris?" Bill said nervously. "Are you-"

"Okay?" Tenebris guessed. "Of course I am! At last, it's all come together! I can finally shed that putrid avatar form, and embrace myself once more! I am free!". Bill suddenly realised, with growing dread, what Tenebris was. Creatures of mythology, used as stories to scare children.

"You're an Oni" Bill realised. Tenebris clapped mockingly. "Well done, well done. Do you want a medal?".

"What is this?" Bill asked. "What's going on?". Tenebris laughed.

"I can't believe it! I really can't believe it! Even with the truth starting you in the face, you're still so blind! Does that one eye work at all?". "I..I don't understand"

"Look around Cipher! This is me! What I've been waiting to do for millennia! And thanks to you, I've done it".

"What have you done?" Bill asked, stepping back nervously, dread building.

"No, Bill. What have you done?" Tenebris said. "I never thought you would be so gullible! To think, I debating keeping you around after all this. You could have been an apprentice, you know. A great one at that. But, I guess what they say is true. Power is wasted on those who don't know how to use it". Tenebris raised his hand, and unleashed a blast of red lighting from it, which struck Bill, who yelled out at the excruciating pain, falling to his knees. "It took me years to spin this story" Tenebris hissed. "Hundreds of years. Waiting for you. The all seeing eye. I was able to convince you it was a gift, something to be proud of". He sighed. "It's not. It's a curse. You can give everyone what they want, but never get what you want, in the end. It's a bitter fate". He blasted Bill with another folly of lighting. "But all the same, the all seeing eye is power. Power it's weirder must be trained to use. When I found you, you didn't even knew you had it! I had to teach you, teach you to wield it. Just to get to this very moment" Tenebris said.

"Wait, what?" Bill was shocked. "But I trusted you!".

"That is evident" Tenebris said dryly. "I'll admit this: you're powerful. Probably more powerful than any Demon or Oni in existence, but you have such a flaw. Your compassion. I had that once. I paid the price. You believed your emotions were what gave you your power. No. It was your emotions that kept your power in check. Kept it on a stable level. The more volatile the emotion, the more power you experience" Tenebris continued, and his lighting stopped. Bill groaned, steaming from the blast. He burnt all over. The pain was almost unbearable. But this couldn't be happening. Tenebris was right here, attacking him! This couldn't be happening. It couldn't!

"No" was all Bill could say. Just one, broken word.

"I knew how much of an effect emotion had on your powers, and I deduced what you cared about. That's why I hired the gunman to kill your friend at the prison. Tammy was her name, wasn't it? I suppose it doesn't matter now. She certainly served her purpose".

"What?" Bill couldn't comprehend it. No. No. No. Not Tammy. And by Tenebris' hand? No. No. "NO! Bill yelled out, but he was blasted by a sudden strike of Tenebris' lighting. "Her death made you strong!" Tenebris yelled.

"Her death was a necessity for you to be powerful! Her sacrifice was not in vain!"

"Sacrifice?" Bill shrieked. "You call it a sacrifice?!".

"One of many!" roared Tenebris. Behind him, the portal widened once more. "And it worked did it not?" He added. "Her death motivated you to join us! To learn how to be the all seeing eye! Her role was vital, but she always had to die to fulfil it!". He then smiled. "Just like someone else". Bill's blood went cold.

"No".

"Yes" Tenebris said. "I Imagine you struck down Circulus with the satisfaction that your father was avenged. Poor Circulus, he really didn't have a clue. It was I that killed Wade Cipher".

Bill Cipher's world fell around him. Tenebris, the one he called a friend, maybe even a brother, the one he had shared so much with. The good times. The bad. Times of peace. Times of war. That night under the stars. The days of training. Bill had come to see him as a surrogate father. But he wasn't. It was all a lie. All a ruse. To get the all seeing eye.

"I planted an explosive aboard the ship that would detonate when Wade boarded" Tenebris explained. "I expected a reaction from you, but the level of your rage amazed me. Your connection to him must have been so strong. I'd never seen anything like it. You must see Bill, all this death is necessary. It has to happen. Just as the Council had to die for Eadem to have peace, Wade had to die for you to become what you are meant to be. For that, I'm sorry. But there was no other way".

Bill screamed out, and lunged at Tenebris, drawing a sword, but the Oni merely smacked him aside, sending Bill flying.

"All of this was for change!" Tenebris bellowed. "You wanted change right? A better Eadem!? You thought your people had suffered? My people were on the verge of extinction because of their own actions! Their infighting, corruption, war and selfishness nearly wiped them out! My homeworld was eradicated! But I persisted, oh how I persisted. For their crimes, for destroying a planet, they were banished. Banished to a realm of eternal chaos. Before l left them, I promised. I would not rest until I saved them. Saved all of them. I've spent so long in this world, fighting to get them back. The Night Lights, each one once a criminal I liberated, swore loyalty. They didn't know my true agenda. They didn't need to. They followed regardless. But you? You where what I was waiting for. The legend of the all seeing eye inspired me, and I knee there and then, that that would be what gave me the power I needed in the end".

Bill stood up, groaning, his head spinning and his mind ablaze. "I suppose I have a lot to thank you for" Tenebris said. "To start with, all this" he gestured to the portal. "Oh, and for removing the Council for me. Those corrupt fools represent everything that is wrong with our universe. The rich corrupt that sneer down on us. Thank you for purging that". Tenebris turned to the portal. "But now, I must complete my work". Bill tried to move, but found himself rooted to the spot. Tenebris raised his hands, dark energy coursing through them, and began to chant in the Oni tongue, spouting words that Bill didn't understand, and certainly couldn't pronounce. As he did, the portal ripped open wider, and the entire Palace shook, its towers crumbling down as both Liberators and Protectors fled in a panic. The roof of the chamber was ripped off, and Bill felt himself begging whipped mercilessly by sudden gusts of wind, as Eadem's clean night sky turned inky and clouded as the wind built up. Bill watched as Tenebris continued to chant, looking back at Bill, with what looked like almost sympathy. Bill didn't care. This was the monster that killed his father. He knew that now. But he had never, ever, in all his life, felt this betrayed. This broken. This lost.

In the skies above, Captain Fearless was watching the events in the Palace with a growing horror.

"All Protectors, recall!" He commanded, as the stragglers made thief Way board the main cruiser.

"We're leaving sir?" One asked.

"We are" Fearless said grimly. "This is too much. We are done".

"But our mission. We were supposed to protect-"

"That doesn't matter now" Fearless wailed. "Who's going to protect us? We are leaving!".

Vickor and the Liberators could do nothing but watch as the Protector Warship climbed steadily into the air, as earthquakes began to shake the ground, climbing higher and higher, until it vanished into the night sky. The Protectors had fled. Fled when Eadem needed them most. A second earthquake hit, demolishing most the Palace. The Council Chamber crumbled, falling away. The Core Crystal was buried under hundreds tons of rock. Buildings fell around the city. Demons fled in a panic. And the portal opened ever wider, with Bill, still rooted to the ground, held in place by Tenebris' power, staring in horror at it. Creatures began pouring out of the portal: Oni. They grew bat like wings, and assended into the stormy air, an army of darkness, taking flight, screaming with violent glee, finally free. Tenebris' chants grew louder, and a massive beast burst through the portal, jumping from the tower, crashing down onto the ground below, unfazed by its fall. The creature was build like a tank, ripping with muscle and scales like armour. It look vaguely reptilian, yet it had massive Oni horns, and was a dark grey, with glowing red veins, and beady yellow eyes. But Bill's attention was on its mouth. It's mouth was massive, and then unhinged, spewing out a massive blast of dark energy, disintegrating the Palace Gardens. As it did this, it grew in size, now the size of a bungalow. Any people within the range of its blast disintegrated too.

"What is that" Bill said is horror.

"Oh him?" Tenebris mused. "That's The Glutton, my friend. Once a prisoner of the Nightmare Realm. Now free. Free at last". The Glutton turned and fired a blast at the base of the Palace, making the entire place shake. Tenebris calmly levitated into the air. "I'm sorry it had to be this way Bill" he said. "Really, I am. But I'm saving my race. If that costs yours, than so be it. Eadem belongs to the Oni now. Once The Glutton is through with it, it will be like you Demons never existed. But I will remember your sacrifice. Farewell Bill Cipher. May your peoples death be glorious".

Tenebris vanished in a puff of smoke, and Bill fell free of his hold, falling roughly to the ground as The Glutton shook the Palace again. The Night Lights too, all disappeared in similar puffs of smoke. Bill was no longer just afraid. He was terrified. Broken. Lost. Alone. It couldn't end this way, could it? But Bill could think no more as the entire palace collapsed, the portal sealed shut with a seismic slam, its work already done. Bill was blasted back into open air, tumbling down alongside many tons of debris, and then, everything went black.


	21. The Fall Of Eadem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of a horrifying revelation, Bill must face the enemy that has been by his side all along.

Pain. All Bill Cipher could feel was pain. The pain wasn't numbing. It wasn't faded. It certainly wasn't hilarious . It was the pain of loss, and Bill was feeling it all over again. And it broke him. He had lost his friend, his father, and now his mentor. A mentor he never really had in the first place. Bill awoke, half buried in rubble. With an emerged yell, he leapt up, the rubble being blasted off him. The sky was dark, but the ground was bright. Brights with harsh embers that fell like smoke, and an endless wall of blue flame. In the near distance, The Glutton, almost the size of a mountain, ripped through the remains of Eadem's capital city. Everything else was gone. And Bill only blamed himself as he stared out across the devastation. He had caused this. He had allowed this to happen. Willingly. A tear traced down his cheek. Could Demons cry? He was crying now. All of this was his doing. All these people were dead, because of him. Old Tony. Orvou. Matrick. Tammy. Wade. Amoreon. All gone, because of his actions. Bill let out a shudder as he held his held in his hands. Finally, he stood up, and looked around.

Almost immediately, he was knocked back to the floor. Two Oni landed a few feet away from him, their black wings folding up as they spun their spears, hissing. Bill let out a roar and dived at the Oni, his fingers becoming claws which he plunged into one of the Oni's chests, ripping them out before slashing the other Oni across the throat. But Bill wasn't done. As the second Oni fell, Bill grabbed its arm and ripped it off, flinging it away before planting fist after fist into his now deceased victims back. Bill stood up, panting. The Oni's blue blood seeped out onto the ground, with specs decorating Bill's ripped clothes. Another Oni dived down at Bill, but the all seeing eye saw him coming, and in one swift strike with a quickly created sword, the Oni impacted the ground, its head rolling away from its body. Nonchalantly, Bill picked the head up by the horns.

"Does anyone else want to fight me!?" Bill shrieked out, holding the severed Oni head up. "Anyone?"

"Brother?" Bill turned, dropping the head on the floor. Will Cipher was stumbling through the wreckage towards him, tears streaking down his injured face. Will finally reached Bill, and hugged his brother tight. "I thought you were dead!" Will cried. "After the Palace fell, everything went wrong!".

"I know" Bill said grimly, looking at the dead Oni. "It was Tenebris".

"Yeah, we saw him" Will said. "He's isn't much of a looker once that avatar is gone. Nothing handsome about a monster".

"What's happened?" Bill asked. "How long have I been out? Last I saw, Tenebris unleashed that massive thing, and it started destroying everything".

"You must have been out at least a couple hours, Bill" Will said. "The Resistance, our Liberators, they're all gone. Those Oni wiped them out. The city's been obliterated by that giant monster, that keeps growing the more it destroys. Eadem has fallen, Bill".

"What about Tenebris?" "

"He and the Night Lights teleported away" Will said. "Now, old head honcho Oni is up there".

Will pointed to a new structure, that certainly wasn't there before. A massive black spire, that looked like it was made from colossal spikes, which jutted out casting long shadows across the devastated fiery land. "Tenebris has built himself a fortress" Will explained. "He and the Night Lights are all up there".

"Then we need to get up there!" Bill shouted. "And kill him!".

"There's no way we can do that" Will said. "Eadem is lost! We have to get off world, while we still can!".

"We have to kill Tenebris" Bill argued.

"See sense Bill, please!" Will pleaded. "You hated Eadem! You know it was corrupt! We can go to a better place! Like that drawing we made remember? The perfect world? We can find it! Our family can be together again! Mother is already on her way to us now. We can escape together!"

"This isn't about Eadem!" Bill yelled. "I don't care about Eadem!" "

"Then what is it?"

"It was Tenebris, Will" Bill said at last. "He's the one who killed our father". Will's expression hardened.

"I see".

"So no negotiations this time" Bill hissed. "I'm going to kill him, and that's that. After that, we will find a new world".

"Bill pease!" Will begged. "You don't have to go after him! Let it be! Don't let vent negative consume you!".

"Wade was family!" Bill roared. "He was our father! I can't let his killer go free! I can't!".

"You won't have to" a voice said. The Brothers turned, to see Claire Cipher, in full battle armour, controlling a hover-jet.

"Mother?" Will stared in shock. "Get on boys" Claire said. "We are getting out of here, but not before we give that monster a farewell present".

"We can't kill him!" Will protested as he and Bill boarded. "He's way to powerful".

"We have to try" Claire insisted. "If we don't stop him here, he will follow us to whatever new world we go to. He'll never stop hunting us".

"Then we kill him" Bill said. "Here and now".

"Hold on tight" Claire warned, as she pitched the Hover-Jet up awards, and they shot towards the tower.

"Eye bats!" Will yelled out, as a swarm of the aliens bore down towards them. Bill growled, and unleashed a blast of fire from his hands, scorching multiple of the Eye Bats, who plummeted smoking down to the ground. Will grabbed a Plasma Blaster from the seat of the Hover-Jet and started madly firing, shooting down as many of the duplicitous aliens as he could. But still, more kept coming, firing laser blasts from their eyes. A gargoyle lunged down from above, but was blasted to dust by Bill. A laser from an Eye Bat suddenly struck the Hover-Jets engine, which started smoking.

"Oh that's not good" Claire deadpanned, trying to regain control of the Hover-Jet as it began to give out. "Hold on!" She yelled, as the Jet veered towards the black spire, taking out a couple Eye Bats as it did, and crashing onto one of the jutting spikes. Claire, Bill and Will quickly clambered off as the Hover-Jet lost balance, and tumbled down to the base of the tower.

"What now?" Will asked. "Those eye bats will spot us up here soon enough".

"I can get up there" Bill said, looking up. "I'll fly up there".

"You can't go alone" Claire said.

"We got this far" Will said. "We have to do this together. We're family".

"Can you fly?" Bill deadpanned. Will sighed.

"Well, no but-"

"Look, I won't let you get hurt. Either or you".

"Bill please! Don't do this alone!" Will said.

"I have to" Bill said. Claire sobbed out, and hugged her son, pulling Will in with her. They separated, and Claire planted a kiss on Bill's forehead.

"I know I can't stop you" she said. "But please, be safe".

"I will" Bill said. "I promise".Without another word, he rose steadily into the air. It was time to fly. Taking a breath, Bill propelled himself onto the air, heading up towards the top of the tower.

Tenebris sat proud upon a massive throne of bones, overlooking the devastated city below a dark stormy sky. The Glutton tore through more buildings as Tenebris watched with a grimace. The beast was more violent than he remembered. It didn't matter. Once its work would be done, however well it did it, Eadem would be ripe for Oni inhabitance.

"I hate to interrupt your thoughts, my lord" Vickor said, approaching Tenebris. A long scar now ran along Vickor's face, courtesy of a Protector who had the element of surprise.

"What is it?" Tenebris rasped. "The Night Lights are worried, my lord" Vickor said. "They say this is too much".

"Too much?"

"Yes. This chaos. This destruction. They think it's overkill".

"They are criminals" Tenebris pointed out.

"They're criminals, yes, but not psychopaths" Vickor argued.

"That can be debated"

"Maybe so, but this is too far, my lord. You're destroying an entire planet".

"Not destroying. Converting".

"It's madness" Vickor said. "You're making this place uninhabitable!"

"I'm doing what must he done" Tenebris rasped. "For my people".

"That's funny" came a voice. Tenebris and Vickor turned. Bill Cipher, levitating in the air, tattered yellow jacket flapping in the wind, with two balls of blue fire in his hands, and his eye alight with the same colour, floated before them, his shadow cast by the raging blue fire that was combing the ruined city behind them. The Night Lights stared on: Pyronica, 8-Ball, Hectorgon, Keyhole, Teeth, Paci-Fire, Kryptos, Amorphous Shape, Plume, Torok and Xanthar, all watching in silence. Vickor slowly stepped away from Tenebris, retreating back to the other Night Lights.

"Bill Cipher" Tenebris marvelled. "The all seeing eye. You're still alive".

"Surprised?" Bill asked, floating down to the ground. "You're looking no better I see". Tenebris hissed.

"Jokes? Really? I expected more from you".

"Yeah, you shouldn't do that" Bill mused. "High expectations only lead to disappointment".

"You can crack these all you want, Bill. It won't bring them back" Tenebris said. "You can't hide behind comedy". Bill's expression hardened.

"Well you've run out of things to hide behind. Your Night Lights haven't killed me yet have they? I don't think you've inspired much loyalty with this show, have you?". Tenebris looked to Vickor and the other Night Lights. None of them moved.

"We we're promised a world too, Tenebris" Pyronica spoke up. "This isn't it". Tenebris hissed.

"You obey me! When I give the order, kill Cipher!".

"You're done killing people" Bill said. "The only death now will be yours".

"Such a bold thing to say" Tenebris said. "But can you handle the power without your mind snapping like a string?". Bill smiled.

"Let's see".

"You're afraid" Tenebris deduced. "But all these theatrics won't mask your dear any longer. I will reunite you with your father". The Night Lights stood ready to attack. Oni, flapping in the sky above them, observed without a word. The Glutton roared in the distance.

"A wager then" Bill said. "I challenge you to single combat! One versus one, me versus you. If you win, you take my life and this world. If I win, you call off your pet". Tenebris looked back at The Glutton from this throne, then at the Night Lights, and then his Oni, all who were waiting for a reply.

"So be it" he hissed, jumping down from the throne, sword in hand. He would not allow his pride to be wounded. Bill drew his own sword. The pair stood facing each other, just as they had in training all that time ago, waiting for the others move. Then, Tenebris dived with a feral roar, blade raised. Bill blocked, and parried another strike, before feinting back, defending more strikes. Tenebris sprung away from Bill's own swing, and fired a blast of dark energy from his hand. Bill summoned a slab of earth from the ground, blocking it. The pairs blades met again, sending sparks flying. Tenebris grinned in the light of their swords.

"You said you wanted to burn the corruption away" he said. "You wanted to end it. You've done that well".

"I never wanted everything to burn!"

"Corruption runs deep. It all must go Bill. To be pure once more, it all must go".

Bill yelled out, and blasted Tenebris back. Tenebris landed on his feet, and gazed distastefully at his opponent. Bill yelled out, and his avatar form fell away, as he turned into his Full Demon form, the massive pyramidal form, split into three, with six strong Demon arms coiling out. Bill's eye glowed.

"Well, well" Tenebris laughed. "Full forms it is. Let's make the most of this new power". And Bill watched as Tenebris' form changed, growing in size and changing shape. In the place of the Oni, was a massive silver and black dragon, its eyes purple with tints of red, its teeth and claws like swords, and it's wings mighty, folded onto its back. The dragon Tenebris snarled. "You're not the only one with a powerful form" he growled. "And thanks to your deal, I can take this form once again".

"I'll kill you whatever form you take" Bill hissed. Tenebris raked his claws against the ground.

"We shall see".

The two titans lunged at each other, claws and teeth ripping into one another, sending blasts of dark energy in every direction. Bill threw six fistsd punches at mind blowing speeds, before blasting Tenebris with fire. The dragon was unfazed by the flames that burst across him, and slashed at Bill with his claws, before swinging his tail like a whip, cracking it against the Demon. Tenebris then unleashed a blast of dark energy from his maw which struck Bill, sending him flying back. Bill got up, and formed razor sharp blades in the air, flinging them telekinetically at Tenebris with increasing speed. Some bounced off his scales, must most lodged deep in his flesh, drawing blue Oni blood. Tenebris roared, enraged that he had been wounded, and extended his mighty wings. In two large beats of his wings, he was in the air, swooping down towards Bill, unleashing another blast of dark energy, which burned against Bill, who levitated into the air, and used three of his six arms to grab Tenebris round his scaly neck, and tried to pull him down, while pummelling his head with the other three arms. Tenebris roared out, and slashed deep cuts across Bill, and slammed him onto the ground. The dragon landed on Bill, grabbing him in his claws and smashing him against the floor again. Bill yelled out, expelling a massive burst of energy, which caused Tenebris to spring back, his scales steaming.

"You are strong" Tenebris hissed. He dived at Bill unleashing his strongest pulse of dark energy yet, which impacted Bill with the force of a meteor, the energy burning, destroying, hurting. Bill was flung back, crashing into Tenebris' throne of bones, smashing it into pieces. "But not strong enough" Tenebris rasped, still in his dragon form, staring Bill down. Bill stood up, still in his Full Demon form, and prepared to continue fighting. Tenebris smirked. "Ready to die?".

"Stay away from him!" Tenebris yelped, and turned, to see Will Cipher, armed with a fully charged Plasma Blaster, firing burst after burst at Tenebris, knocking off scales and leaving steaming holes. Tenebris roared out, and swung his tail at Will, who jumped aside.

"Will!" Bill yelled, diving at Tenebris, who grabbed him and threw him aside.

"I see your family has come!" Tenebris hissed gleefully. "Does your brother want a front row seat to view your demise?". Bill screamed out, and fired a massive fireball, which hit Tenebris square in his freakish dragon face, scorching it near black. Tenebris howled in pain as Bill lunged, four of his six hands turning into blades, which he drove at Tenebris, swinging madly. Tenebris blocked and knocked strikes away, all while Will kept firing.

"Will!" Bill yelled again. "Get clear! Now!"

"We're family!" Will yelled back, firing again. "We stick together to the the end!".

"The end is now!" Tenebris screamed, delivering a massive blast of dark energy at Bill. Bill was slammed back, and Tenebris swung his serrated tail, only for Bill to grab hold, raise is blade, and cleave it clean off. Tenebris shrieked, as Bill beat him across the head with his own severed tail, before flinging it aside, and slashing at his former mentor, who was now backing away, burned and bleeding. But Tenebris wasn't done. His claws extended, and he drove them into Bill's pyramidal body, burying them deep. Bill yelled out, shoving the dragon back with such force that several of his claws stayed lodged in his body. Will Cipher kept firing, as Bill dove upon Tenebris, slashing and striking with his extended blades on his arms, cutting after gash into the dragon. Tenebris slashed back, his dragon hand grasped by Bill, who violently twisted it, before stabbing it furiously. Bill slashed again and again, as Will continued to shoot. Tenebris beat his massive wings, the shockwave blasting Bill back. Bill stood up immediately, and formed another set of blades in mid air: big ones. With an endgame yell, he flung them at Tenebris, just as Will Cipher was struck by the dragon. Several blades struck Tenebris' hide, but one sailed past the dragon, finding its mark in the chest of Will Cipher. Will's eyes widened, as he clutched the handle of the blade that had impaled his chest. He slumped to the ground.

Bill Cipher's world stopped. His Demon eye was fixed upon the unmoving body of his brother. The brother he had promised to keep safe. The brother he had sworn to protect. Bill barley saw Tenebris look from Will to him, and start to charge his way. Bill Cipher let out a cry of pure agony. Pure pain. A blast of energy rolled forwards, slamming into the charging Tenebris. The force scorched the dragon, burning off his vales, and cashing his once pristine mighty wings to crumble like foil, burning up in the heat of the energy. Tenebris' shrieks of pain were masked by Bill's own agonising cry. The Night Lights watched, with horror and fascination in every eye.

"He is strong" Pyronica remarked.

"That is not strength" Vickor said grimly. "It is pure pain".

At last, Tenebris recoiled from Bill's relentless attack, backing up desperately. But Bill's attack didn't cease. He was consumed in his anger. He had lost too much. He unleashed multiple fireballs, which struck against the dragon, and formed rocks in the air, flinging them down at the being he once viewed as a friend. Tenebris howled out, as Bill drove him closer and closer to the edge of the tower. Tenebris backed up more, until his rear legs nearly slipped off the edge. Realising his predicament, Tenebris started forwards, claws drawn, ready to attack again, but Bill was faster. Much faster. Before the dragon could even raise his arm, Bill had dived forwards, and plunged an ebony blade deep into Tenebris' chest. The dragon gasped out, as Bill pulled the blade from him. As he groaned out, Tenebris' reverted back to his Oni form, bleeding all over and injured beyond belief. He looked up at Bill, who returned to his avatar form , exhausted. Tenebris grimaced, shifting into his own avatar form, trying to find some form of reliability from his old pupil. Bill clutched his chest in pain, staring down at the Oni, who had slid back to the slanted edge of the tower. Below, the massive blue fire raged.

"You brought this on yourself" Bill said. Tenebris laughed, a trickle of blue Oni blood sliding down his lip.

"Did I?"

"I trusted you!" Bill cried, his voice choking up. "I trusted you and you betrayed me!". Tenebris' purple eyes, now bloodshot, gazed into Bills own yellow eye.

"Everything I did, I did for my people. They deserved better than the living hell that blasted being gave them".

"What about my people!?" Bill cried. "The people you killed!".

"I had no choice!" Tenebris spat. "This world was unique. Special. It had powers that others didn't. It was my people's only hope".

"That monster will destroy everything!" Bill yelled. "You can't control it".

"I know" Tenebris said. Slowly, Bill drew a sword. "And now, you're going to want to kill me, right?".

"I want to, and I will" Bill hissed, tears streaking down his face.

"We are both killers for our people" Tenebris said. "Both killers for a cause. Are we so different?"

"I would never do what you've done".

"Wouldn't you? You're doing it already. Right now. The all seeing eye is a curse. A powerful curse. It will be your end. You'll find yourself begging to the great one soon enough, just as I did when it banished by people to the Nightmare Realm". Bill looking down at Tenebris.

"You betrayed me. For that, you'll die".

"No! I can't!" Tenebris said, panic and fear taking over his voice, which a bill had always known to be so clam and collected. "My people! They need me!"

. "I wouldn't worry" Bill hissed venomously. "I'll kill the lot of them". Tenebris' eyes widened.

"No".

"Yes!" Bill yelled. "All of them! As you have with my people!" Tenebris slumped his head. And to Bills surprise, slow laughter emerged.

"I was right".

"What was that?". Tenebris looked up, and started to stand, ignoring the blood dripping from multiple open wounds. Bill clutched blade tight.

"I was right about you" Tenebris said. "You're a killer. But you'll do worse than me. So much worse. Oh I see it now. The great one is cruel to burden you with the all seeing eye. I see it now. I see how this will end". Tenebris stood up fully, gazing at Bill. "Will you kill your last friend?" Bill raised his sword, and as he did, noticed Tenebris' hand snaking to a dagger resting on his belt.

"You killed my father" Bill hissed. "That's all I need". Tenebris hand gripped the dagger, but as it did, Bill slashed the Oni across the chest with his sword, leaving a deep cut. Tenebris' eyes showed shock, then acceptance. Bill remembered the words they had said from what seemed like a million years ago. They seemed sickeningly potent now. Bill smiled at Tenebris.

"Race you to the bottom of the stairs". Tenebris' fell back, his body tumbling from the tower, down into the raging blue fire below. He was gone. Bill turned to face the Night Lights, his eye glowing red, his sword still dripped with Oni blood as he willed it to disappear. "Kneel" he said simply. They didn't need telling twice. Bill smiled. "Thank you" he said. "My Henchmaniacs".

Then, he turned to his brother. Will Cipher lay on the ground, hugging his chest, his avatar gone, leaving him as his true blue triangular self. Bill knelt down beside his brother, and cradled him, sobbing quietly.

"Will" Bill sobbed. "I'm so sorry". Will clutched Bills hand in his own, holding it tight to Bills's chest.

"I don't blame you" Will croaked. "You know I never will".

"I'm so sorry" Bill repeated. "I've messed everything up".

"You haven't" Will said weakly. "We have a prefect world, remember? That drawing, the one we did as kids. That was my perfect world".

"Will-"

Will Cipher nodded weakly. "The perfect world. I'm..going...to...it". Will Cipher's eyes closed for a final time, and an aura of silence fell across the tower. Will Cipher's body glowed, and faded away, leaving only a sparkling dust, which was lost to the wind. Bill fell down and sobbed, with nothing left to embrace. Slowly, his eye turned to The Glutton, the massive monster destroying everything in the distance.

"Bill" Vickor started towards him. "Don't-" But Bill had already trainsformsd to full Demon and was racing off towards The Glutton. "Kryptos, ready a ship" Vickor said. "This can only end in disaster".


	22. Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As all comes to an end, Bill Cipher becomes the monster that was foretold millennia ago.

Bill Cipher's eye was alive with hate as he flew towards the towering monstrosity that was The Glutton. The Glutton saw him coming, and opened its massive mouth in a roar of anger at the approach of this bizarre challenger. Bill didn't slow down one bit. As he raced closer, Oni spotted him, and dived down. Bill unleashed blasts of energy, vaporising each Oni in a single shot. Other came. They died as fast as their comrades. Finally, the sky was clear of Oni entirely, leaving only The Glutton. The monster roared, and Bill's scream of rage was so loud it drowned the beast out, before Bill dived into The Glutton's open mouth, as it slammed shut. The Glutton stopped, confused as to what has just transpired. Then it roared out, as Bill smashed through its chest, its massive heart in his hands. Bill dumped the heat in the fire as The Glutton fell, dead on impact. Bill let out a triumphant scream, and returned to the tower. He still had a chance. He could fix this. Bill landed down on the tower, turning back to his avatar form. Vickor looked back from loading the ship as Bill landed, and the two made eye contact.

"We leaving Vick?" Kryptos asked nervously.

"No" Vickor said simply, walking towards Bill. "Not yet".

Bill turned to face what was once the skyline of Eadem. Now, nothing remained but rubble consumed in fires that rose as high as the skyscrapers that once stood there. Bill closed his eye, and took a deep, shaky breath. He could feel the life of Eadem fading. The planet was dying. Bill held out his hand, and a unearthly energy pulsed through it, resonating into Eadem itself. He could do this. He could fix this. Bill strained as he reached out, both with his mind and his powers, sensing the massive damage done to the planet. It hurt him. It hurt badly. He could feel,the pain of the planet. All the death that disgraced its soil. Bill screamed out in pain, but held on. He began to will the planet to fix itself.

"What's he doing?" 8-Ball asked Vickor. Vickor stared nervously at Bill.

"He's the all seeing eye" Vickor said. "I fear he can do anything". Bill yelled out again, and his eye shot open. His vision stretched for miles. He could see every movement. Every crackle of fire. But it was a particular movement that caught his eye. Movement just beyond the base of the tower, where the fire was smouldering, and the ground scorched but free of the massive flames. People were down there. They were moving through the scorched ground, availing the massive fires. Bill recognised them. His mother led them, Claire Cipher bravely pushing forwards, leading a group of survivors: the last survivors of Eadem. People Bill recognised among them. Norrin Reed, from the news, two Dream Demons, and others. Claire looked up at the tower, and in that moment, she and Bill saw each other. The pain spewing from Eadem into Bill's mind reached excruciating levels, and Bill yelled out, his control and sanity breaking all in one. The blue fires responded sided to his cries, rising higher. Bill's eye shot wide open as they climbed violently into the air. But his focus was still on the survivors and his mother.

The fires all relit, storming in a landslide of flame, a charge of heat, which burst towards them. Bill could only see his mothers eyes, staring back at him, as Claire Cipher and all the survivors were lost to the flames. Bill screamed out. A mad, insane, broken scream. He fell back, and barely noticed Vickor grab him and start pulling him towards the ship. Bill kicked out and screamed. He could have disintegrated everyone there in an instant, but didn't. Vickor hauled him onto the ship, 8-Ball and Paci-Fire helping as the door slammed shut behind them, reuniting Bill with the darkness. Outside the blue flames roared ever louder, and Tenebris' tower shuddered, collapsing as Vickor launched the ship from it, climbing high into the air, above the ashen sky of Eadem.

Bill screamed for a least three hours after that. Then, he fell silent. The silence aboard the ship was only broken by the occasional outburst of sudden mad laughter on behalf of Bill, who would laugh uncontrollably and then fall deathly silent again. Vickor could reason with it. The poor boy had been subject to enough to break a mind into pieces. Roped into a resistance and given a burden he didn't want. Fighting a war against the leaders of a planet. His friend dead. His father dead. His mentor turned traitor. His mentor killed. His brother killed by his own actions. His mother killed by his own actions. His world destroyed by his own actions. No sooner had they left Eadem, the planet itself had cracked apart, its pent up energy too much. Bill's attempt to save it had doomed it after all.

"Vickor?" Bill's voice drifted to him. "Where am I?"

"The ship" Vickor replied, walking over to Bill. "Where you've been for hours".

"Hours?" Bill looked around. "No that can't be right".

"Bill"

Bill screamed again, clutching his head. His avatar form glowed white, and burst apart, splintering into shards of light. In its place, was Bill's born form. The yellow triangle, with a single eye, black limbs, and a curious bow tie. A hat had formed on what would be the Demons's head.

"My form" Bill croaked.

"It's gone" Vickor said.

"Then so is my home.." Bill realised. "And mother, and... Will. No, Will. Will. WILL!". Bill leapt forwards, half laughing, half crying. "No!". Vickor watched him sadly.

"We must find somewhere safe to stay".

"No".

"What would you recommend?"

"We find the Protectors" Bill said. "They could have saved us! They abandoned us, when we needed them most! I shouldn't have... But I did! I killed my family! I killed my world!"

"Bill, it's not your fault-"

"It is!" Bill screamed. "All my fault!"

"It's not".

"It is! But it's theirs too!" Bill yelled. "All those who killed my world must be punished! They must die!" Bill jumped to the front of the ship, laughing like a madman. "Alright gang listen up!" Bill shouted. "You are my Henchmaniacs, and you are indebted to my service! You can be free now, free to cause as much chaos as you like!".

"Death?" Plume hissed In question.

"Plenty of that!" Bill declared. "Now, it's time we punish the ones who wronged my world, the ones who killed Gorgon! Now, Pyronica, set course for planet Tectar!". Pyronica smiled.

"I'm liking this new you".

"There is no old me" Bill hissed.

"Preparing to wormhole to Tectar" Pyronica reported. "Can I double check the location with you Vickor?" She turned round, but Vickor was gone. "What the- where is he?" She asked. "Did anyone see him?".

"I've seen nothing" Hectorgon mused.

"I can't see!" Teeth wailed. Bill looked back, and saw Vickor heading towards the ships escape pod. The Demon followed, stopping Vickor before he could board.

"Where are you going?" Bill asked.

"Away from here" Vickor said simply. "I'm done".

"Done?"

"Yes. Done" Vickor said firmly. "You've broken Bill. You're mad".

"Mad? No, Im not mad! Am I?".

"You are. And I will play no part in this revenge mission" Tenebris said, climbing into the smaller ship docked. "The all seeing eye is a curse" he said. "It would break you eventually. I'm just sorry it did it now". , and the ship shot out, soon a dot in the distance. Bill scoffed, and turned back to the other Henchmaniacs. He didn't need Vickor. He could do this without him. He could do it all without him.

"Hey Bill" Pyronica said as Bill floated back other. "You find Vickor?".

"Vickor is gone" Bill said simply. "No more questions". Pyronica was wise enough to obey.

"Heads up" grumbled Paci-Fire. "Tectar dead ahead". Bill nodded.

"Dead is right". His eyes narrowed. "I'll avenge you Will. I promise".

The ship landed without resistance, which Bill found surprising, and even a bit disappointing. Nobody attacked him, nobody even came close to their ship. So far, nobody to kill.

"What's the plan boss?" Keyhole asked.

"Stay with the ship" Bill said simply. "That goes for all of you. If you try to flee, I will kill you. But I know none of you will do that, right?" He said, eye glowing red. Keyhole shook his heed quickly

"No boss! Never!".

"Good". Bill walked from the landing feild, and into the city.

"They should fear you" the voice in his head returned. "Teach them to fear you. Your world is gone. Take theirs instead".

Captain Fearless burst through metal doors, and found himself face to face with the Queen of Tectar.

"Barn?" The queen said with concern. "What on earth is up with you?".

"We're in danger" Fearless painted. "I made a mistake".

"A mistake? What mistake?" The queen asked. "Anyway, shouldn't you be on Eadem? You asked for extra support". Suddenly, an explosion shook the building. "What was that?" Fearless cried out.

"We're too late. They're here". The queen raced to the window, Fearless close behind.

"What on earth is that?!" The queen said. Fearless saw it too. Bill Cipher, in full Demon form, energy crackling through his hands, the sky darkening above him, Tectarians fleeing in fear.

"Cipher" Fearless said with dread.

"People of Tectar, hear me!" Bill bellowed. "I am Bill Cipher! Demon of nightmares! Killer of The Glutton! Slayer of the Oni! Slave no longer! Liberator of Eadem! Fear me! For I am a god!"

"Fearless, mount a defence" the queen ordered. Fearless nodded.

"Protectors attack!".

Bill laughed as battalions of Protectors approached him. "Oh? You're approaching me?" Bill mocked. "Fools! I have wiped out an entire planet! Eadem is no more thanks to me! And it's people are gone along with it!". Fearless and the queen had heard the declaration, and turned in horror.

"Is that..is that true?" The queen asked. Captain Fearless remembered the state of Eadem as they had left. Had Bill done all that?

"Yes" the captain said. "Yes it is".

"Prepare evacuation shuttles" the queen said. "This is something I never could have imagined we'd face". Bill Cipher laughed out, slaying the Protectors with ease, as if he was merely felling an anthill, as if the people he left dead were little more than ants. Images flashed in his mind. Memories. Ideas. The drawing that he and his brother had made years ago, of a perfect world. Bill willed it into being. The sky turned an angry red, and black pyramids rose out of the ground, scattering people and buildings like one would scatter the paper on a desk. Lighting flashed across the sky, and in Bill's eyes, as the bubbles he and Will had so childishly invented came into being, bubbles of pure madness. Bill laughed. The carnage, the chaos. It was so beautiful. It was an Armageddon on a scale hither to undreamt of. No. It was better.

"Weirdmagddon" Bill breathed. "It's perfect". Bill then spotted the castle. With a roar of glee, he dived for it, already knowing who would he inside. Bill crashed into the throne room, smashing the wall down as he did so. Fearless and The queen of Tectar looked up in horror. The queen screamed out, and Bill batted her aside and out the hole he had created without a second thought. "Fearless!" Bill yelled out. "I've been looking for you!". Captain Fearless fell back, unarmed and terrified. "You should have protected my world!" Bill said. "But you didn't, so I'm taking yours from you!" In the sky, the Tectar flying saucers were trying to escape into orbit. Bill looked down at Fearless. "Watch this" he said gleefully, and started blasting the, from the sky. One was struck just as it activated its wormhole, and vanished, smoking, through the portal. "Oops" Bill mused, taking joy from Fearless's horrified face.

"You're insane" Fearless said.

"I'm inane either way! So what?" Bill laughed. "This is so much fun!". Fearless shook. He could see the devastation out there. He had failed.

"You're going to kill me now, right?" Fearless assumed. Bill grinned.

"No".

"What?" Fearless said. "But-"

"You want the sweet release of death" Bill said. "Why would I give you that, when I can let you live, and watch your world burn?" Bill grinned as Draven Barn cried out, and The Demon rose steadily back into the air. "Enjoy the show Fearless" Bill hissed, and shot was from the castle, leaving Draven Barn in the ruins of everything he held dear.

Bill laughed as the pyramids ripped through the ground. He laughed as lighting struck down civilisations. He laughed as volcanos burst up and erupted. He laughed as Tsunamis struck the shore. He loved it. Every second of it. To him, this was a party. A party that never stopped. But him? He knew he could do better. So much better. The prophecy of the all seeing eye was incomplete after all. This wasn't the best he could do. Not yet. But at last, Bill Cipher had found what he loved. The chaos should help him forget his sins in time. After all, he would commit so many, that the events of Eadem would be irrelevant. Bill laughed out again. At last he was...

Everything went white.

Bill's eye opened. He was no longer on Tectar. The place he was in had no features. None at all. It was a calm white void of nothing.

"Like it?" A voice echoed.

"What? Who's there? Show yourself!" Bill demanded. Slowly, a creature floated into view. A massive reptilian creature. Bill blinked. Was that an...Axolotl?

"Bill Cipher, we meet at last" the Axolotl mused.

"Alright lizard boy, what am I doing here?" Bill demanded.

"I have called you here, for you have given the multiverse something to fear" the Axolotl said.

"Say what now?"

"You have caused great suffering on Tectar, much death, maybe have given their final breath".

"Cut it out" Bill hissed.

"Hmmm?" "The rhymes! Stop it!" Bill shouted. "It's annoying me".

"Very well. Explain your actions" the Axolotl said.

"My actions?"

"Tectar".

"Oh. That. I was avenging my world!"

"It seems you picked the wrong people to punish".

"The Protectors were corrupt! They hurt my world!" Bill argued.

"Yet you then eradicated theirs. Ninety percent of the Tectarian populous were unaffiliated with the Protector cause, yet you caused their collective demise, all the same".

"You think I care?" Bill spat. "I fixed that world, you know. Made it perfect, like me and Will dreamed.

"And do you think this is what Will Cipher would have wanted, hmm?" The Axolotl asked calmly. "This death to be pegged on him? His brother turned into a monster?".

"Well I guess we will never know" Bill hissed spitefully. "He's dead".

"And who's fault is that?"

"How dare you!" Bill roared. "He was my brother!"

"And now, he is dead". Bill yelled out in anger. "I tried to speak out to you. Using my ward, the dragon. But you didn't listen. The all seeing eye is something that will play a role in the multiverse's future. The catalyst for an event that will change everything. And it will start with them. The twins. The Pines. The town. All of it begins there".

"Enough riddles!" Bill yelled.

"It's no riddle" the Axolotl spoke calmly. "But know this. The all seeing eye will turn th user insane, one way or another". Bill laughed.

"I'm insane either way".

"I fear that to be so. You cannot go unpunished for Tectar. Your mortal form will be stripped from you, and you and your band of criminals will be locked in the Nightmare Realm, now there is a vacancy. Farewell Bill Cipher. You have a choice. I hope you will make it in your last moments".

Before Bill could say anything, everything went dark. His audience with the Axolotl was over. Bill Cipher awoke with a start, floating in the Nightmare Realm. He yelled out in anger, but there was no one around to hear him. He would have to find his Henchmaniacs later. But there was something tugging at his senses. Perhaps his lack of a physical form had enhanced his ethereal senses? He would have plenty of time to perfect them. Mind invasion seemed fun. Maybe a bit of possession? Trickery? As Bill reached out more, he realised that the source was no coming from the second dimension, but the third dimension. He could sense both now. Something, on a small, backwater planet, was emitting a peculiar signal. Bill understood it at once. Weirdness energy. The very stuff he needed. No doubt others would he drawn to it. Those Pan-Dimensional Beings from Trilazzx Beta would be sure rivals. But Bill would he willing to wait. Bide his time. And his time would come. Soon enough, he would be free, and at last... His dream would be reality. Weirdmageddon would begin.

**Author's Note:**

> So here it is! The start to a project I've been working on for a pretty long time! 
> 
> I've always felt that Bill could do with an origin story, but could never figure out how to pull it off. This adventure will be my spin on the tale, and will be quite different from any other main Gravity Falls stories. But with luck, some people will like it! 
> 
> Throughout this first chapter and all the upcoming ones, there will be little hints and references, some easier to get than others. So enjoy, readers, and join Bill Cipher on his rise, and fall...


End file.
